The interim Joint Judiciary Committee is considering a draft bill that would give state prosecutors broad new latitude to appeal judges’ dismissals of criminal trials. At the moment, state prosecutors have little recourse on those rulings.
Some say the bill could overburden Wyoming’s judicial process and give an unfair advantage to the prosecution.
The bill would give the state 11 instances where it could appeal a judge’s ruling to a higher court.
Those instances include:
- When a judge wants to throw a case out due to insufficient pretrial evidence on the part of the state
- When a judge decides a defendant lacks the mental capacity for execution by the state
- When a judge wants to toss a case due to the lack of a speedy trial
- When a judge rules a defendant isn’t competent to stand trial
- When a judge dismisses an indictment, including following a decision not to bind the defendant over for trial
- When a judge issues an order granting a withdrawal of a guilty plea
- When a judge issues an order modifying a judgment of conviction
- When a judge issues an order granting a new trial
- When a judge holds that a statute, or any part of a statute, is invalid
- When a judge gives an order finding that a sentence is illegal or that corrects an illegal sentence
- When a judge gives an order dismissing a charge under W.S. 6-2-602, a law that has to do with allowing defensive force when someone is threatened
“The state doesn’t get to appeal anything right now,” said Jenny Craig, a deputy attorney general who spoke in favor of the bill at the meeting. “By adopting a statute like this, it’s certainly going to put more work on the executive and judicial branches.”
That’s because the measure would likely increase the caseload for judges at the circuit, district and state Supreme Court levels, as well as the state Attorney General’s office.
Those in favor of the bill emphasized that at the moment, the state has no ability to appeal rulings by circuit or district court judges, which can sometimes be flawed.
Rep. Jeremy Haroldson (R-Wheatland) expressed concern for how the bill would impact defendants represented by public defenders. In 2018, the Office of the Public Defender handled a total of 14,934 cases for defendants, with 131 appeals brought to the state Supreme Court.
“It feels a little bit like we could weaponize a really large pocketbook against the citizens of the state,” said Haroldson.
Rep. Karlee Provenza (D-Laramie) said she has an issue with state prosecutors being able to appeal competency rulings by a judge.
“I think we heard some concern about if we’re going to allow for appeals for this, what it could do to people that are incarcerated and [who are] needing to get care,” she said.
Provenza motioned to strike that instance from the bill language. However, it didn’t succeed.
Utah, Maine and Texas have enacted measures similar to the one under consideration by Wyoming. The Wyoming Legislative Service Office used the language in Utah’s law to draft Wyoming’s current version.
Ultimately, the committee voted 10 to four to move the bill forward for a potential introduction to the House in January.
This reporting was made possible by a grant from the Corporation For Public Broadcasting, supporting state government coverage in the state. Wyoming Public Media and Jackson Hole Community Radio are partnering to cover state issues both on air and online.
