CHEYENNE — Wyoming Supreme Court Justice Keith Kautz sparked a fire last March with a strident dissent in an opinion that became known as a marijuana case, or, in some circles, an utter mess.
The ruling was 3-2, unusual for a court that consistently hands down unanimous decisions.
Retired Judge Kautz, joined in the dissent by Judge Kari Gray, warned that if the majority opinion in the case were accepted, law enforcement officers would be more likely to be charged with negligent investigations.
This dissent was bound to draw attention to the Legislative Services Authority, whose lawyers oversee these decisions. And so it was.
At its next meeting, Congress' Joint Judiciary Committee will consider a bill that would amend the Supreme Court's majority opinion in November.
The lawsuit included a claim for damages brought by Deborah Palm Eagle, the owner of a marijuana farm near Alvin.
She was known to many members of Congress for her support of cannabis growers in previous Congresses.
In August 2019, Wyoming Department of Criminal Investigation (DCI) officer John Briggs received information about a suspected marijuana grower near Alvin.
Briggs and possibly another officer went to investigate, but the property, which also includes a barn and greenhouse, was empty.
Briggs spotted a green leafy substance hanging outside a broken window in his barn, took a photo of the plant and submitted it to a lab for analysis.
During Briggs' visit, an unidentified person in the barn also gave officers two certificates of analysis for samples showing zero percent delta-9 THC levels. According to the majority opinion of the court.
In an affidavit subsequently filed to show probable cause for a search warrant. Briggs identified nine test results that showed total delta-9 THC levels just above the legal limit of 0.3 percent, but did not mention two zero test cases. did.
After a judge approved a search warrant, Briggs returned to the farm and seized approximately 722 pounds of materials.
Prosecutors later charged Deborah Palm-Eagle with a felony for growing marijuana plants.
Anyone who lives in Cheyenne and Laramie counties and listened to the chatter on the streets when felonies were filed knows that the Palm Eagle case could become a catastrophe thrown out of court, especially among young people. You would have known there was.
As expected, the circuit judge ruled that there was no probable cause and no incident.
Deborah Palm-Eagle subsequently sued Briggs for damages, alleging that she failed to investigate and breach her duty of care as required by law.
The case was filed in federal court, which transferred two questions regarding Wyoming law to the state Supreme Court.
At a recent Judiciary Committee meeting, a majority of members voted to move forward with a bill that would amend the Supreme Court's majority decision.
The concern was that the court's decision made Wyoming the only state to allow police to sue for certain claims of negligence, including failure of duty of care.
Kautz's dissent pointed out that the majority opinion provided no analysis of whether the suspect owed such a duty of care in the case.
“The majority opinion effectively recognizes a new tort law in Wyoming that allows criminal defendants to sue investigators for simple negligence because prosecutors filed criminal charges that were later dismissed. ” Kautz wrote.
Members of the Judiciary Committee offered a variety of opinions on the bill, according to a video of the meeting.
Rep. Ember Oakley, R-Riverton, said she believes the majority of the Supreme Court wants to punish what it considers bad behavior.
“But I think the bad laws continued.”
The result is “extremely dangerous for law enforcement,” she said.
Other members, however, supported the majority opinion or the bill in its entirety and were uncomfortable with changing the law based on a case full of egregious acts, bad laws, lies, and accusations.
Rep. Carly Provenza (D-Laramie) questioned why Congress would need to enact a law with such impact based on the actions of those involved in this failed case.
More will be added in November.
Contact Joan Barron at 307-632-2534 or jmbarron@bresnan.net.
