Case Title: Goodwine v. State

Citation: 

Docket Number: 

State: wyoming

Court: Wyoming Supreme Court

Date: 1988-11-18T00:00:00Z

Document:
Goodwine v. State1988 WY 143764 P.2d 680Case Number: 87-251Decided: 11/18/1988Supreme Court of Wyoming
GREG GOODWINE, APPELLANT 
(DEFENDANT),

v.

THE STATE OF 
WYOMING, 
APPELLEE (PLAINTIFF).

Appeal from the District 
Court, NatronaCounty, Dan Spangler, 
J.

Leonard D. 
Munker, State Public Defender, and Julie D. Naylor, Appellate Counsel, for appellant.

Joseph B. Meyer, 
Atty. Gen., John W. Renneisen, Deputy Atty. Gen., Karen A. Byrne, and Terry L. 
Armitage, Asst. Attys. Gen., for 
appellee.

Before CARDINE, C.J., and THOMAS, URBIGKIT, MACY 
and GOLDEN, JJ.

GOLDEN, 
Justice.

[¶1.]     Appellant Greg Goodwine 
(Goodwine) appeals his conviction of robbery for which he was sentenced to not 
less than two nor more than three years to be served concurrently with an 
identical term on a charge of probation revocation.

[¶2.]     Goodwine raises two 
issues:

1. The introduction of 
appellant's statements to law enforcement personnel was reversible 
error.

2. The evidence presented 
to the court was insufficient to sustain the conviction.

[¶3.]     We reverse Goodwine's 
conviction of robbery, sustain his conviction of the lesser-included offense of 
larceny, and remand for resentencing on the crime of 
larceny.

[¶4.]     Since the sufficiency 
of evidence issue is dispositive, we need not address the issue of the 
admissibility of incriminating statements.

[¶5.]     Around noon on Sunday, 
December 14, 1986, Goodwine entered the front doors of the lobby of the Showboat 
Motel in Casper, Wyoming, and, with a slight limp, walked 
directly to the registration counter where Leilah Montoya, the desk clerk, was 
working alone. Goodwine's height was between 5'7" to 6' and his weight was 
between 160-165 pounds. His hair was long and he wore blue jeans, a jacket, and 
a black baseball cap. Ms. Montoya's height was 4'11" and her weight was 98 
pounds.

[¶6.]     Unknown to Ms. Montoya, 
Goodwine had suffered a severe "closed head injury" in an automobile accident on 
August 25, 1985. This injury resulted in severe neurological deficiencies which 
adversely affected his speech and gait. When Goodwine approached the counter, 
Ms. Montoya asked if she could help him. Goodwine spoke lowly and softly and 
mumbled, so that Ms. Montoya could not understand what he was saying. She 
testified that Goodwine stood there for a moment, and then he reached into his 
pants pocket and produced two lighters. He slammed them down on the counter in 
front of Ms. Montoya and pushed them toward her. He mumbled something, but she 
could not understand him. She took it that he wanted her to buy the lighters, 
and told him she was not interested. He stepped back from and then toward the 
counter, picked up the lighters and put them into his pocket, stepped back from 
the counter, looked around the lobby area, and stepped back and forth in a 
continuous circle.

[¶7.]     Goodwine then asked Ms. 
Montoya if there was a restroom or restaurant, and she replied there was not. 
She believed his voice was getting louder as he was getting agitated because she 
could not understand his words. He put his hands back into his pocket and pulled 
his right hand back out of his pocket. Ms. Montoya thought he probably had a gun 
in his pocket. Goodwine then walked toward the counter and looked over a glass 
partition on the counter above the cash register. Ms. Montoya by then was 
feeling very nervous and was beginning to be frightened that he was going to rob 
the motel.

[¶8.]     Goodwine then backed 
away from the counter and walked around the corner of the counter leading to the 
office. Ms. Montoya was feeling very frightened that he was coming back there to 
rob the cash register. She grabbed the cash register key, which was in the 
register, locked the cash register, took the key out, and tried to, but could 
not get, another cash register key hidden under the counter. She turned around 
and was going to grab a club, but she could not reach it; she tried to swing 
shut a fourfoot high steel gate at the entry way to the registration area, but 
she could not reach it either. Goodwine was standing about two feet away from 
the gate. Ms. Montoya left the counter and registration area by going into a 
back office and slamming the door which locked 
automatically.

[¶9.]     From the back office 
she called 911 and asked for police assistance. She was feeling frightened that 
he was going to take the cash register money and frightened for herself. After 
calling for police assistance, she opened the office door slightly and peeked 
out; she saw Goodwine behind the counter and the closed cash register. She was 
going to try again to reach for the club, but he was too close. He was riffling 
registration cards and other papers and touching the cash register keys. Ms. 
Montoya closed the office door and called 911 again. She returned to the office 
door, opened it slightly, peeked out, and saw Goodwine by the open cash register 
stuffing cash into his pocket. She closed the door, did not see Goodwine leave, 
and came out of the back office when a policeman arrived.

[¶10.]  Ms. Montoya estimated Goodwine took 
between $300 to $320 in various denominations, including twenty-dollar bills. 
She testified that Goodwine had not asked her for any 
money.

[¶11.]  The police located Goodwine a short time 
later at a fast food outlet near the motel. When the officer talked about money 
that was taken from the motel, Goodwine volunteered to the officer that the 
money was under a table next to their table. So Goodwine would not be left 
unattended, the officer asked a waitress to come over and retrieve the money. 
The waitress picked up $169 in currency, and Goodwine was arrested. At the 
NatronaCounty jail during the 
police search of Goodwine, six twenty-dollar bills fell from inside the left 
pant leg pocket area. After a bench trial he was convicted of the crime of 
robbery.

[¶12.]  Apart from Goodwine's statements to 
police officers, substantial evidence exists to support Goodwine's conviction of 
the crime of larceny; therefore, we need not consider Goodwine's claim that his 
incriminating statements were erroneously admitted into evidence. We do, 
however, consider whether there is sufficient evidence to support his conviction 
of robbery.

[¶13.]  W.S. 6-2-401(a)(ii) (June 1983 Repl.) 
states in pertinent part that a person is guilty of robbery if in the course of 
committing a crime defined by W.S. 6-3-402 (June 1983 Repl.) (such as larceny) 
he "threatens another with or intentionally puts him in fear of immediate bodily 
injury."1 Although we are satisfied with the 
evidentiary basis for the trial court's finding that Goodwine committed larceny, 
we must review the evidence to determine whether it is sufficient to allow the 
trial court, sitting as the finder of fact, to form a basis for a reasonable 
inference of guilt proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Righter v. State, 752 P.2d 416, 420 (Wyo. 
1988). Specifically, we review the state's evidence that Goodwine threatened Ms. 
Montoya with immediate bodily injury or intentionally put her in fear of 
immediate bodily injury, so as to elevate the larceny to 
robbery.

[¶14.]  At common law, the taking of property 
under circumstances calculated to terrorize the victim was identified as the 
more serious offense of robbery. Model Penal Code and Commentaries, 2 A.L.I. 96, 
§ 222.1 comment 1, p. 96 (1980). "These circumstances were described as a taking 
from a person or in his presence by force or by putting the victim in fear of 
immediate bodily injury." See generally 2 W. LaFave and A. Scott, Substantive 
Criminal Law § 8.11 (1986). In Wyoming, the heart of the robbery offense is 
the combination of larceny and either the threat to the victim of immediate 
bodily injury or the intentional placing of the victim in fear of immediate 
bodily injury. The legislative intent of the robbery statute is to reach all 
forms of express and implied threat immediately to inflict bodily injury as a 
result of which the accused takes property from the victim. The unique feature 
of robbery is the victim's relinquishing property in the face of the immediate 
possibility of the actor's execution of the threat to do bodily harm. The 
language used, "threatens" and "intentionally puts in fear," contemplates 
purposeful behavior and focuses upon the accused's purposeful conduct in 
conveying, by either express verbal threats or implicit nonverbal physical 
movement or both, that harm will immediately result if the victim resists the 
taking. From this reasoning, we see that it is the accused's conduct in 
communicating, either verbally or with physical movement or both, the threat of 
injury that controls, not the victim's reaction to that accused's conduct. Our 
focus on the accused's purposeful behavior assures that the robbery offense 
properly identifies those offenders who pose the risk of bodily harm to which 
the crime is addressed. If our focus were on the victim's reaction to an 
accused's conduct, we would run the risk that a victim's subjective overreaction 
to benign conduct would unjustifiably escalate an offense from a less serious to 
a more serious crime.

[¶15.]  Focusing on the accused's purposeful 
behavior, the court in Mangerich v. State, 93 Nev. 683, 572 P.2d 542 (1977), 
upheld the accused's robbery conviction where the accused entered a 7-11 store, 
said "good morning" to the female sales clerk, placed a ski mask over his head 
and told the clerk, "[g]ive me all the money." The court explained, 572 P.2d at 
543:

Of course, `[t]he 
courageousness or timidity of the victim is irrelevant; it is the acts of the 
accused which constitute an intimidation.' United States v. 
Alsop, 479 F.2d 65, 67 (9th Cir. 1973). The standard is objective. `If the fact 
attended with circumstances of terror, such threatening word or gesture as in 
common experience is likely to create an apprehension of danger and induce 
[another] to part with his property for the safety of his person, it is 
robbery.' Hayden v. State, 91 Nev. 474, 476, 538 P.2d 583, 584 (1975). 
Certainly, the appearance of a strange man in a ski mask demanding money could 
cause a reasonable clerk to fear for her safety and relinquish property. Cf. 
United States v. Robinson, 
527 F.2d 1170 (6th Cir. 1975); State v. Stephens, 66 Ariz. 219, 186 P.2d 346 
(1947); and Flagler v. State, 198 So. 2d 313 (1967).

[¶16.]  In Hayden, cited in the above quote, the 
court upheld accused's two robbery convictions arising from separate motel 
robberies. In the first, accused entered the motel office at midnight, stated he 
was desperate, and told the female manager, "I want your money." She gave him 
the money from the cash drawer, noting she could only see one of his hands. She 
testified she was scared and afraid of what might happen; she said she did not 
know whether she was going to be tied up or killed. In the second robbery, the 
accused entered the motel office at 3:25 a.m., and told the female desk clerk 
who was alone that he had to rob her. She replied that he must be kidding, to 
which accused said, "No, lady, I'm not kidding * * * don't try anything 
funny."

[¶17.]  As pointed out in United States v. 
Alsop, 479 F.2d 65, 67 (9th Cir. 1973), if the focus were on the victim's 
reaction and not on the accused's conduct, "a fearless banker could never be 
robbed by intimidation." Conversely, a timid banker could always be robbed under 
a benign or ordinary circumstance.

[¶18.]  Under this analysis, we are not saying a 
victim must actively resist the accused in order to provoke a more compelling 
display of force. We consider it absurd to require a victim to "take on" an 
accused in order to establish the fear of immediate bodily injury necessary to 
create the crime of robbery.

[¶19.]  Applying this analysis to the evidence 
favorable to the state and the inferences from that evidence which can 
reasonably be drawn, we hold the state failed to put forth sufficient evidence 
to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Goodwine's conduct was such as in 
common experience was likely to create an apprehension of immediate danger and 
induce Ms. Montoya to part with the motel's property for the safety of her 
person. In particular, we note that Goodwine made no demand for money, uttered 
no words conveying a threat of bodily harm, made no physical gestures conveying 
a threat of bodily harm, displayed no weapon, and made no attempt to disguise or 
conceal his facial features. From the totality of the evidence, the state points 
to a man with a speech impediment who looks over the registration counter and 
walks toward the end of that counter. At that point, Ms. Montoya locked the cash 
register, left the area, and stayed behind a locked door. No taking of property 
happened until the accused found the hidden cash register key, opened the cash 
register, and stuffed money into his pockets. We hold the state failed to put 
forth sufficient evidence to allow the trial court to form a basis for a 
reasonable inference of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt that Goodwine took the 
motel's property by threatening Ms. Montoya with immediate bodily harm or by 
intentionally putting her in fear of immediate bodily injury. 

[¶20.]  In Simonds v. State, 762 P.2d 1189, 1193 
(Wyo. 1988), 
we reiterated that if we determine

it is appropriate to 
reverse a conviction of an appellant for an offense, [we] may order that the 
appellant be resentenced for a lesser-included offense in the event the jury 
verdict supports such a conviction.

[¶21.]  We apply that principle here. Larceny is 
a lesser-included offense of robbery. See W.S. 6-2-401 (June 1983 Repl.); and 
W.S. 6-3-402 (Cum.Supp. 1985).2 The trial court's verdict supports 
Goodwine's conviction of larceny; therefore, we set aside Goodwine's robbery 
conviction, sustain his larceny conviction, and remand to the trial court for 
resentencing on the larceny conviction.

FOOTNOTES

1 The language as codified 
in the June 1988 Replacement is identical.

2 At the time of 
appellant's conviction, larceny of property valued at less than $500 was a 
misdemeanor and "punishable by imprisonment for not more than six (6) months, a 
fine of not more than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), or both * * *." 
W.S. 6-3-402(c)(iii) (Cum. Supp. 1985).

CARDINE, Chief Justice, 
dissenting.

[¶22.]  My concern with the opinion of the court 
is the effect it will have on future cases of this kind. After a recitation of 
facts, the court concludes that appellant did not "intentionally [put the 
victim] in fear of immediate bodily injury," per W.S. 6-2-401(a)(ii) and, 
therefore, was not guilty of robbery. Factual determinations and the inferences 
to be drawn from facts are for the trier of fact and not for the appellate 
court. The court, quoting from Mangerich v. State, 93 Nev. 683, 572 P.2d 542, 
543 (1977) states, "`If the fact be attended with circumstances of terror, such 
[as a] threatening word or gesture as in common experience is likely to create 
an apprehension of danger and induce [another] to part with his property for the 
safety of his person, it is robbery.'" A summary of the fact situation recited 
by the court is that appellant entered the motel office not seeking to register 
or obtain a room, he mumbled, looked around the lobby, stepped back and forth in 
a continuous circle, asked if there was a rest room, his voice was getting 
louder and agitated, put his hands in his pockets as though he had a gun, walked 
toward the counter, and looked over the glass partition at the cash register. 
The clerk thought appellant was going to rob the motel, grabbed the cash 
register key, locked it but could not get another key hidden under the counter 
as she hurriedly left the registration area to enter a back office, where she 
slammed a door that locked automatically. What she feared appellant intended to 
do is exactly what he did. He came behind the counter, opened the cash register, 
stuffed the cash in his pocket and robbed the motel.

[¶23.]  From this scenario, a trial judge who 
observed the witnesses and assessed their credibility could reasonably conclude 
that what occurred between appellant and the motel clerk was such as in common 
experience would be "likely to create an apprehension of danger and induce 
[another] to part with his property for the safety of his person." If the fact 
trier could reasonably reach that conclusion, this was a 
robbery.

[¶24.]  The alternative action for Ms. Montoya, 
the desk clerk in this case, was to stand her ground, face up to appellant, and 
face possible serious injury by a man who intended to rob the motel and who in 
fact did rob the motel after he had scared her off by threatening gestures and 
mannerisms. I would affirm.