Van Riper v. State

882 P.2d 230, 1994 Wyo. LEXIS 108, 1994 WL 527702
CourtWyoming Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 30, 1994
Docket93-187
StatusPublished
Cited by29 cases

This text of 882 P.2d 230 (Van Riper 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
Van Riper v. State, 882 P.2d 230, 1994 Wyo. LEXIS 108, 1994 WL 527702 (Wyo. 1994).

Opinion

MACY, Justice.

Appellant Courtney James Van Riper appeals from his conviction for felony larceny by bailee.

We affirm as modified.

Issues

Appellant presents eight issues:

I. Whether defendant was denied the Sixth Amendment right to the assistance of counsel at trial and sentencing after initially asserting the right to self representation but on the same day, and well in advance of trial, advised the trial court of an unambiguous desire for counsel and an inability to proceed at trial without counsel?
II. Whether defendant made a voluntary waiver of the Sixth Amendment right to jury trial by executing a written waiver which stated that without counsel he could not proceed with selection of a jury?
III. Whether defendant was denied the Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause right to impeach the State’s primary witness when the district court denied pretrial defense motions for the taking of handwriting exemplars from the witness prior to trial, and at the time of cross-examination?
IV. Whether the trial court erred in denying motions to suppress oral statements obtained by arresting police officers prior to formal arrest but after physical seizure which was based on less than probable cause?
V. Whether a district court has jurisdiction to order — or may the State obtain any process — seizing, attaching, or levying against a defendant’s funds or bank account in satisfaction of prosecution costs or restitution when those funds are exempt under Title 38 U.S.C. § 5301(a)?
*232 VI. Whether the Wyoming Constitution permits imposition of institutional jury costs on a criminal defendant?
VII. Whether a defendant’s Fourteenth Amendment Due Process Clause and Sixth Amendment Confrontation Clause rights are violated when the oral pronouncement of sentence is altered by the written judgment and sentence mitti-mus?'
VIII. Whether a defendant’s Fourteenth Amendment due process rights are violated when sentence is imposed based in part upon materially false information provided by the prosecutor?

Facts

On November 30, 1992, Appellant told a salesman at Tyrrell Chevrolet in Cheyenne, Wyoming, that he would like to look at an economy car. The salesman showed him a 1985 Chrysler New Yorker and allowed him to test drive the car. Appellant failed to return with the ear. The salesman notified his supervisor, and later that afternoon they advised the Cheyenne Police Department that the car had been stolen. A police officer entered the car’s vehicle identification number into the NCIC computer system.

In January 1993, Tyrrell Chevrolet received an unsigned, handwritten letter which stated:

Dear T[y]rrell Chevrolet,
I would just like to thank you for the Chrysler New Yorker, especially [the salesman]. I only have one question[.] [D]oes the car have any warranty left, otherwise the car runs great, it gets 35 miles to the gallon. Once again thank you.
Sincerely,
?
ps. It’s also great for off road use.

On February 2,1993, deputies of the Hills-borough County sheriffs office in Tampa, Florida, questioned Appellant while they were investigating an unrelated offense. According to the deputies, that afternoon they went to a lounge which was located in Tampa, and they asked the manager to send Appellant outside to the parking lot. When Appellant came out, one of the deputies asked him for identification, and Appellant gave him an altered pilot’s license. The deputy advised Appellant of his Miranda rights and asked him how he had gotten to the lounge and where he was staying. Appellant said that he had come by cab and that he did not know the name of his motel.

The second deputy observed a Chrysler New Yorker, with pilot’s wings on its front license plate, which was backed into the bushes at the edge of the parking lot. Appellant was wearing a pilot’s jacket and pilot’s wings on his belt buckle. The deputy conducted an NCIC search for the rear license plate number, and the search revealed that the plate had been issued to a vehicle which was listed as being stolen and whose description did not match that of the Chrysler New Yorker. The first deputy asked Appellant if he could pat him down for weapons, and Appellant said: “[Tjhat would be fine.” Appellant, telling the deputy that it contained keys, reached into his right front pocket. He removed the keys, and a set of ear keys with the Chrysler logo was among them. The second deputy asked Appellant whether the ear was his, and Appellant admitted that he had stolen the Chrysler New Yorker from a car dealership in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The first deputy advised Appellant a second time of his Miranda rights and placed him under arrest.

Appellant waived his right to have an extradition hearing, and he was returned to Wyoming. Appellant was charged on February 5, 1993, with felony larceny by bailee in violation of Wyo.Stat. § 6 — 3—402(b) and (c)(i) (1988). He requested that an attorney be appointed, and the Laramie County Court appointed the Public Defender to represent him. Appellant subsequently replaced the Public Defender with private counsel.

On April 5, 1993, Appellant filed a “Defendant’s Notice of Self-Representation” which stated:

NOTICE is hereby given that COURTNEY J. VAN RIPER, defendant named in the above styled criminal matter, hereby invokes his Sixth Amendment right to self-representation under Faretta v. California, 422 U.S. 806 [95 S.Ct. 2525, 45 *233 L.Ed.2d 562] (1975); and W.Dist.Ct.R. 101(a). Defendant shows, in furtherance of W.S. § 7-6-107, that: (1) he is fo[ ]rty-five years of age; (2) is college educated and has completed an accredited course in paralegal science; and (3) has extensive and successful experience in criminal law at the state through federal district to Supreme Court levels.

At that time, Appellant informed the district court: “[D]efendant has been unable to access his savings account at Norwest Bank in order to pay the agreed upon retainer to [private counsel]. Accordingly, [private counsel] will not be further involved in this matter.”

On April 16, 1998, the district court granted Appellant’s request to represent himself and postponed the trial date from May 3, 1993, until June 7, 1993. Appellant filed a “Termination of Counsel” on that date which stated:

I, hereby terminate [private counsel] as my attorney in the above-entitled matter and direct that he immediately cease all efforts in my behalf.
I realize that I have future Hearings in this matter and that it is my responsibility to get new counsel.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
882 P.2d 230, 1994 Wyo. LEXIS 108, 1994 WL 527702, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/van-riper-v-state-wyo-1994.