Opinion ID: 2621575
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Bank Records

Text: [¶ 55] Lafond lastly argues that this court must not condone the State's unfettered access to her bank records. In this case the State introduced 21 checks written by the defendant. Lafond, however, claims that the government obtained and used these checks at trial in violation of her rights under the Wyoming constitution. She argues that the citizens of Wyoming have a legitimate expectation that their bank records will be protected under Article 1, § 4 of the Wyoming constitution. [¶ 56] While Lafond has presented the analysis we have directed parties should supply when claiming that the Wyoming constitution provides more protection than the federal constitution, Lafond made no such argument to the trial court. See Vasquez v. State, 990 P.2d 476, 489 (Wyo. 1999). This court generally does not consider issues raised for the first time on appeal. Belden v. State, 2003 WY 89, ¶ 55, 73 P.3d 1041, ¶ 55 (Wyo.2003). Additionally, [t]he burden of establishing plain error is assigned to the appellant even when the claimed error would constitute a violation of a constitutional right. Id.; see also Bailey v. State, 12 P.3d 173, 177-78 (Wyo.2000). As a result, we again review the claim for plain error. [¶ 57] The first requirement of the plain error standard is that the record must be clear as to the incident alleged as error. It is not completely clear how Lafond's checks were obtained. The record shows that there was a precipe for a subpoena deuces tecum and a returned subpoena. However, that subpoena did not include all the checks that were eventually introduced at trial. Ms. Krier testified that the checks were produced as a result of a warrant. Nevertheless, the record contains no such warrant. This puzzle aside, portions of Lafond's bank records are clearly in the record and were introduced at trial. For argument sake, and because it is not essential to our holding, we will thus proceed as if the first requirement of the plain error standard were met. [¶ 58] The second requirement of the plain error standard is that there must be a transgression of a clear and unequivocal rule of law. The United State Supreme Court has decided that a person does not have a Fourth Amendment expectation of privacy in their banking or financial records. United States v. Miller, 425 U.S. 435, 440-43, 96 S.Ct. 1619, 1622-24, 48 L.Ed.2d 71 (1976). In Fitzgerald v. State, 599 P.2d 572, 577 (Wyo.1979), we expressly adopted this rule. We therefore hold that Lafond cannot meet the second requirement of the plain error standard. While, as Lafond points out, our opinion in Fitzgerald provided no analysis of the Wyoming constitution and it is possible that such an argument could be made, such an argument must be made at the trial level first.