Opinion ID: 2373626
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 15

Heading: Did the district court abuse its discretion when it admitted flight evidence?

Text: [¶ 40] The appellant's final claim of error is that the district court abused its discretion when it allowed the State to present evidence that the appellant attempted to flee when authorities in Arizona went to his house to arrest him. Specifically, the appellant argues that the district court abused its discretion in admitting the flight evidence because the evidence was introduced in order to show the appellant's guilty conscience, but the State was not required first to prove that the appellant did in fact have a guilty conscience when he fled. We review decisions regarding the admissibility of evidence for an abuse of discretion. A trial court's decision on the admissibility of evidence is entitled to considerable deference, and will not be reversed on appeal unless the appellant demonstrates a clear abuse of discretion. As long as there exists a legitimate basis for the trial court's ruling, that ruling will not be disturbed on appeal. Phillip v. State, 2010 WY 14, ¶ 10, 225 P.3d 504, 509 (Wyo.2010) (internal quotation marks and citations omitted) (quoting Wimbley v. State, 2009 WY 72, ¶ 10, 208 P.3d 608, 611 (Wyo.2009)). [¶ 41] We dealt with the issue of admission of flight evidence in Cureton v. State, 2003 WY 44, 65 P.3d 1250 (Wyo.2003). In Cureton, a police officer pulled over a car in order to arrest one of the occupants who was believed to have been involved in a theft of property from the American Legion. Id. at ¶ 3, at 1251. However, before the officer could make the arrest, the appellant fled. Id. The officer was eventually able to catch up to the appellant and placed him under arrest. Id. Property belonging to a couple who were victims of a home burglary was later discovered in the car from which the appellant had fled. Id. at ¶ 4, at 1251. The appellant was charged with petit larceny relating to the American Legion incident and burglary relating to the property taken from the victims' home. Id. at ¶ 5, at 1251. The appellant pled guilty to the larceny incident involving the American Legion, but pled not guilty to the burglary charge. Id. at ¶ 5, at 1252. At trial on the burglary charge, the State presented the evidence of the appellant's flight when the police officer attempted to arrest him, in order to show the appellant's guilty conscience. The appellant was convicted of burglary following a jury trial. Id. On appeal, the appellant argued that the evidence relating to his flight from the police officers was improperly admitted into evidence because it did not show a guilty conscience regarding the property stemming from the burglary, because his flight was actually in response to the American Legion incident and not the burglary incident. Id. at ¶ 8, at 1252. In rejecting the appellant's arguments, we stated: The State is not required to prove the purpose of appellant's flight. Rather, it is up to the jury to fairly draw reasonable inferences as to the purpose of appellant's actions. Even though it is possible to draw other inferences from the evidence presented, the jury has the responsibility to resolve conflicts in the evidence. This [C]ourt will not substitute its judgment for that of the jury. Id. at ¶ 12, at 1253 (internal citations omitted). [¶ 42] In the case sub judice, the appellant attempts to distinguish Cureton from the facts surrounding his flight and arrest by arguing that in Cureton there was a showing of consciousness of guilt relating to at least some crime, but here there was no such showing. In fact, the appellant argues that for flight evidence to be admissible there must be some evidence linking the appellant's flight with the reason the State is presenting the flight evidence. The appellant's arguments are misplaced. We made clear in Cureton that the State is not saddled with the burden of proving the purpose of the appellant's flight. 2003 WY 44, ¶ 12, 65 P.3d at 1253. It is up to the jury to make that determination and we will not second guess the jury's determination in that regard. Id. Accordingly, the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the evidence of the appellant's flight.