Opinion ID: 2510597
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Issue Three Evidence of Justin Miller's Guilty Plea

Text: [¶20] Miller next argues that reversible error occurred when the district court allowed Justin and Deputy Whitmore to testify about Justin's guilty plea to possessing the methamphetamine supplied by Miller, and when it allowed the prosecutor to reference that plea during his opening statement and closing arguments. Miller acknowledges that he did not object to the testimony or to the prosecutor's statements at issue and, consequently, must demonstrate plain error to succeed on his claim. As discussed above, plain error requires Miller to show both a violation of a clear and unequivocal rule of law and a denial of a substantial right resulting in material prejudice. Brown, ¶ 8, 109 P.3d at 55. We find that Miller has not satisfied his burden. [¶21] Miller finds the clear and unequivocal rule of law he claims was violated in Kwallek v. State, 596 P.2d 1372 (Wyo. 1979), and the line of cases following it. The evidentiary rule upon which Miller relies states that when two persons are indicted for separate offenses growing out of the same circumstance, the fact that one has pleaded guilty is inadmissible against the other. Id. at 1375; see also KP v. State, 2004 WY 165, ¶ 14, 102 P.3d 217, 221-22 (Wyo. 2004); Adams v. State, 2003 WY 152, ¶ 27, 79 P.3d 526, 534 (Wyo. 2003); Mazurek v. State, 10 P.3d 531, 535 (Wyo. 2000); Urrutia v. State, 924 P.2d 965, 969 (Wyo. 1996). The rationale for the rule is that the evidence is irrelevant and incompetent because it suggests that since the confederate is guilty, the defendant must also be guilty, and this inference violates the defendant's right to have his trial on its own merits. Kwallek, 596 P.2d at 1375-76. [¶22] The Kwallek rule is inapplicable under the particular facts and circumstances of this case. As indicated above, that rule precludes the State from presenting evidence of guilty pleas of accomplices and co-conspirators in its case-in-chief under circumstances that might tend to implicate the defendant's guilt by association. KP, ¶ 18, 102 P.3d at 223; Mazurek, 10 P.3d at 535. Here, Justin was not, in any sense of the word, an accomplice or a co-conspirator in the crimes for which Miller was on trial. Justin's guilty plea did not concern any participation in the distribution of a controlled substance but, rather, involved his possession of methamphetamine, conduct dissimilar in nature to the criminal conduct underlying the charges against Miller. Although Justin's plea pertained to the methamphetamine Miller was charged with supplying, that fact alone does not bring evidence of that plea under the realm of the Kwallek rule. Because Miller has not shown a violation of the Kwallek rule, he cannot demonstrate plain error.