Schmidt v. State

2001 WY 73, 29 P.3d 76, 2001 Wyo. LEXIS 88, 2001 WL 909216
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedAugust 13, 2001
Docket00-160
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 2001 WY 73 (Schmidt v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Wyoming Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Schmidt v. State, 2001 WY 73, 29 P.3d 76, 2001 Wyo. LEXIS 88, 2001 WL 909216 (Wyo. 2001).

Opinion

HILL, Justice.

[11] Appellant, William Wade Schmidt (Schmidt), brings this ten-issue challenge to his conviction for immoral and indecent acts 1 with a child under the age of 18 years. In this instance, the female victim was 11 years old.

[12] We affirm.

ISSUES

[13] Schmidt poses these issues for resolution by this Court:

I. Does the lack of an adequate record for appellate review require reversal[?]
II. Whether the admission of the numerous prior consistent statements of the complainant requires reversal[.]
III,. Did the trial court correctly instruct the jury as to the essential elements of the crime{?] IV. Was a lesser included offense instruetion required[?]
V. Did the legislature intend that the indecent liberties statute apply to the alleged conduct[?]
*79 VI. Is W.S. § 14-8-105 void for vagueness in that it allows or invites the jurors to follow their personal predilictions [sic] in deciding guilt or innocence{[?]
VII. Is it a violation of the Appellant to equal protection under the Federal and Wyoming Constitutions[?]
VIII. Was the admission of prior inconsistent statements plain error[?]
IX. Did the limitation of eross-examination of the complaining witness deny the Appellant his right to confrontation[?]
X. Was the Appellant denied his right to effective assistance of counsel

In response, the State summarizes the issues thus:

I. Whether the record is adequate for appellate review"?
II. Whether the trial court's evidentiary rulings were correct?
III. Whether the trial court properly instructed the jury?
IV. Whether Appellant was properly charged and convicted under the indecent liberties statute?
V. Whether Appellant received effective assistance of counsel?

FACTS

[T4] The evidence at trial showed that at about 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, June 19, 1999, the victim went to Schmidt's home to play with his children, something she frequently did. On that date, she was 11 years of age. When she arrived at the Schmidt household, Schmidt's wife and children were just leaving to go swimming, so the victim returned home. However, the weather had turned to thunderstorms and rain so the victim returned to the Schmidt home because she thought her friends would be returning home soon. She was waiting under a tree in the front yard for her friends to return when Schmidt came out of the house and invited her to come inside. The victim entered the house, and for a few minutes she and Schmidt watched TV. However, because the TV reception was not good, Schmidt turned the TV off and began asking the victim a series of questions. First, he asked if the victim had started puberty, and, not knowing what that meant at that time, she apparently did not answer the question. Schmidt then asked her if she had ever shown anyone her private parts, and the victim answered, "No." At this point, the victim stated she felt scared. Schmidt next asked if she would show her private parts to him, and she again answered, "No." At this point, the victim indicated that she felt "sceareder." Next, Schmidt asked the victim if she knew the names of a woman's private parts, and she again answered, "No." Undeterred, Schmidt then asked the victim if she would like to see a book on that subject. The victim initially answered "No," but when Schmidt persisted, she said, "Okay." He left the room and returned with a magazine. Schmidt showed the magazine to the victim and used the words "lips and clip" to describe a woman's private parts. The victim used these words to describe the pictures she was shown by Sebmidt:

A. , One picture had a line going through it like this and the top picture had a woman spreading her private part open with a man's private part in hers and then on the bottom, it showed his private part all the way in hers.
Q. Were there any other pictures near that one that you saw?
A. Yes.
Q. What did the other picture look like?
A. It had a picture of a-a cliff with a sunset in the background and a tree next to a guy with a woman over his shoulder.

[15] The victim also indicated that the woman in the picture did not have clothes on and that the man was dressed in armor. Later evidence demonstrated that the victim accurately described photographs from a Penthouse magazine that was seized from Schmidt's bathroom during a search pursuant to warrant of the Schmidt household.

[16] Next, Schmidt sat down on a couch in his living room and asked the victim if she had ever seen a man's private part, and she said, "No." He then asked her if she would like to see his private part. The victim testified that she felt "seared" but replied, "I guess so," because she felt frightened and *80 "didn't know what to do." To cut this sordid litany short, Schmidt then pulled down his shorts and masturbated in the victim's presence. The victim then left the Schmidt house and returned home.

[17] Two of Schmidt's issues relate to the introduction in evidence of prior consistent statements of the victim, as well as prior inconsistent statements of members of Schmidt's family. For this reason, it is appropriate that we note at this juncture that, in his opening statement, Schmidt's attorney posited that the evidence to be presented by the defense would show that it was not possible that the events described by the victim could have taken place, ie, that she was making it all up.

[18] The victim returned home, washed the dishes, and then went to bed because she felt "sick and yuckie." The next day, which was Father's Day, June 20, 1999, the victim related the events deseribed above to her cousin, who was staying at the victim's home. That cousin testified and repeated what she had been told by the victim. The cousin also testified that the victim was usually "always happy," but on June 20th she was "crying real bad" and was having trouble breathing.

[19] The victim's stepsister also testified and related that on June 19th, the victim came home and went to bed saying she was sick and the following day related the story of what Schmidt did to her. The stepsister also testified that the victim insisted on having her bedroom window closed, even though it was hot, because if it were open, "he [Schmidt] would be able to come inside our room and kill her because she told or get her because she told."

[T10] The victim also told her Father of the above-described events, and he testified about what she had told him and what his reactions were. He also described her dramatic change in mood and behavior following the June 19th incident, including fear of reprisal from Schmidt. On the day his daughter told him of the incident, the Father went to the Schmidt house and confronted Mrs.

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Bluebook (online)
2001 WY 73, 29 P.3d 76, 2001 Wyo. LEXIS 88, 2001 WL 909216, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/schmidt-v-state-wyo-2001.