Title: State ex rel. Hoke v. Owens

State: wyoming

Issuer: Wyoming Supreme Court

Document:

State ex rel. Hoke v. Owens1987 WY 15733 P.2d 240Case Number: 86-199Decided: 02/18/1987Supreme Court of Wyoming
STATE OF WYOMING, EX REL. JOHN L. 
HOKE, INDIVIDUALLY AND AS ASSISTANT PUBLIC DEFENDER, AND LEONARD D. MUNKER, 
INDIVIDUALLY AND AS PUBLIC DEFENDER, AND ON BEHALF OF THE PUBLIC DEFENDER'S 
OFFICE, PETITIONERS,

 
 
v.

 
 
ROBERT T. OWENS, 
MUNICIPAL JUDGE, IN AND FOR THE CITY OF HANNA, COUNTY OF CARBON, STATE OF 
WYOMING, AND MICHAEL N. DEEGAN, MUNICIPAL JUDGE IN AND FOR THE CITY OF RAWLINS, 
COUNTY OF CARBON, STATE OF WYOMING, RESPONDENTS.

 
 
A.G. McClintock, Atty. 
Gen., John W. Renneisen, Sr. Asst. Atty. Gen., and Karen A. Byrne, Asst. Atty. 
Gen., for the State of Wyoming.

 
 
Leonard D. Munker, State 
Public Defender, for 
petitioners.

 
 
Steve D. Noecker, Rawlins 
City Atty., and Kermit C. Brown, Hanna Town Atty., for respondents.

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

 
 

PER 
CURIAM.

 
 
JUDGMENT THAT WRIT OF 
PROHIBITION ABSOLUTE ISSUE

 
 

[¶1.]     This case came on 
before the court upon the court's Order Allowing Alternative Writ of 
Prohibition, the Alternative Writ of Prohibition, filed August 6, 1986; the 
Response to Order to Show Cause and Petition for Writ of Prohibition, filed on 
behalf of the Respondents on August 29, 1986; the Brief of Petitioners, filed on 
October 2, 1986; the Brief of the Attorney General, filed October 30, 1986; the 
Brief of Respondents filed November 10, 1986; and the oral arguments submitted 
on behalf of the Petitioners and Respondents, and the court having examined the 
file and record of the court, the pleadings including those alluded to above, 
and having considered the arguments of counsel finds that:

 
 

[¶2.]     1. In 1977, the 
legislature enacted the Public Defender Act, which has been codified in §§ 
7-1-107 through 7-1-121, W.S. 1977.

 
 

[¶3.]     2. Section 7-1-108, 
W.S. 1977, provides in pertinent part:

 
 
"(a) As used in this 
act:

 
 
"(i) `Court of criminal 
jurisdiction' means any court having jurisdiction concerning a serious 
crime;

 
 
* * * * * 
*

 
 
"(v) `Serious crime' 
means any felony or misdemeanor offense for which incarceration as a punishment 
is a practical possibility;"

 
 
* * 
*"

 
 

[¶4.]     3. A felony is defined 
in § 6-10-101, W.S. 1977, as follows:

 
 
"Crimes which may be 
punished by death or imprisonment for more than one (1) year are felonies. All 
other crimes are misdemeanors."

 
 

[¶5.]     4. Section 6-10-103, 
W.S. 1977, provides as follows:

 
 
"Unless a different 
penalty is prescribed by law, every crime declared to be a misdemeanor is 
punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, 
a fine of not more than seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), or 
both."

 
 

[¶6.]     5. On June 12, 1986, 
the Judge of the Municipal Court of the City of Rawlins appointed John L. Hoke, Assistant Public Defender 
in the Office of the State Public Defender to represent the defendant Glenna 
Jean Burtis in the case of City of Rawlins v. Glenna Jean Burtis, Citation No. 
23236, Docket No. 86-6-49.

 
 

[¶7.]     6. On June 23, 1986, 
John L. Hoke, Assistant Public Defender, moved to withdraw from the 
representation of Glenna Jean Burtis in the case of City of Rawlins v. Glenna Jean 
Burtis, Citation No. 23236, Docket No. 86-6-49, and on June 25, 1986, the 
municipal judge denied this motion.

 
 

[¶8.]     7. On June 12, 1986, 
Judge of the Municipal Court of the Town of Hanna 
appointed the public defender to represent Rocky Bowthorpe in the case of Town 
of Hanna v. 
Rocky Bowthorpe, Criminal Action No. 86-6-2-9.

 
 

[¶9.]     8. On June 23, 1986, 
John L. Hoke, Assistant Public Defender, wrote to the Judge of the Municipal 
Court of the City of Hanna and refused to accept the appointment to represent 
Rocky Bowthorpe, and on June 29, 1986, the Judge of the Municipal Court of the 
City of Hanna entered an Order to Show Cause requiring John L. Hoke to appear 
and show cause why he should not be held in contempt of 
court.

 
 

[¶10.]  9. The Municipal Judge of the City of 
Rawlins, the Honorable Michael N. Deegan, and the 
Municipal Judge of the Town of Hanna, the Honorable Robert T. Owens, continued 
to insist that John L. Hoke, Assistant Public Defender, represent these 
respective defendants, and the Petition for an Alternative Writ of Prohibition 
was presented to this court.

 
 

[¶11.]  10. The charges against the defendants in 
both the City of Rawlins and the City of 
Hanna alleged 
violations of city ordinances.

 
 

[¶12.]  11. Section 5-6-201, W.S. 1977, Cum. 
Supp. 1986, provides with respect to the jurisdiction of a municipal judge as 
follows:

 
 
"A municipal judge has 
exclusive jurisdiction over all violations of ordinances of the city. The 
municipal judge shall hear and determine violations of ordinances and may impose 
fines not exceeding seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), or imprisonment not 
exceeding six (6) months, or both, to which may be added costs. No change of 
venue shall be granted in any case arising under the ordinances of the 
city."

 
 

[¶13.]  12. Section 5-6-301, W.S. 1977, Cum. 
Supp. 1986, provides with respect to a municipal judge in an incorporated 
town:

 
 
"(a) A person convicted 
before a municipal judge shall be fined and imprisoned as provided by ordinance. 
No fine shall exceed seven hundred fifty dollars ($750.00), and no imprisonment 
shall exceed six (6) months.

 
 
"(b) The municipal judge 
shall punish for contempt in the same manner as justices of the 
peace."

 
 

[¶14.]  13. By its reference to felonies and 
misdemeanors in the definition of a serious crime in § 7-1-108, W.S. 1977, the 
legislature of the State of Wyoming did not intend to include violations 
of city ordinances. This is made clear by the differentiation between the 
definitions of felony, the punishment of misdemeanors, and the jurisdiction to 
punish violations of municipal ordinances found in §§ 5-6-201, 5-6-301, 
6-10-101, and 6-10-103, W.S. 1977.

 
 

[¶15.]  14. This legislative intention is 
confirmed by legislative history which demonstrates that prior to the adoption 
of the Wyoming Public Defender Act municipalities contributed to the expense of 
the operation of a defender system. Under the new statute that obligation no 
longer is imposed, and the funding furnished by the legislature of the State of 
Wyoming obviously was not intended to be adequate to provide for the services of 
the Public Defender in municipal courts.

 
 

[¶16.]  15. A violation of a city ordinance is 
not a serious crime within the definitions of the Wyoming Public Defender Act, 
§§ 7-1-107 through 7-1-121, W.S. 1977.

 
 

[¶17.]  16. The Honorable Michael N. Deegan, 
Municipal Judge of the Municipal Court of the City of Rawlins, and the Honorable Robert T. Owens, Municipal Judge 
of the City of Hanna, were without authority to appoint the 
Public Defender to represent the defendants in their respective 
courts.

 
 

[¶18.]  IT THEREFORE IS ORDERED that a writ of 
prohibition absolute restraining the Honorable Michael N. Deegan, Municipal 
Judge of the Municipal Court of the City of Rawlins, and the Honorable Robert T. 
Owens, Municipal Judge of the Municipal Court of the City of Hanna, from 
proceeding in any way to enforce their respective orders appointing the Public 
Defender to represent Glenna Jean Burtis in the Municipal Court of the City of 
Rawlins and Rocky Bowthorpe in the Municipal Court of the City of Hanna, and 
requiring said judges to permit the withdrawal of the Public Defender from 
representation of the said defendants shall issue; and it further 
is

 
 

[¶19.]  ORDERED that the parties to this 
proceeding shall pay their own costs.