Court Opinion

ID: 9551111
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 18:47:56.655319+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:23:05.024390
License: Public Domain

ROONEY, Justice.
Appellant was charged with felony larceny under § 6-3-402(a) and (c)(i), W.S.1977 (June 1983 Replacement). He pled guilty to the charge and was sentenced to three to five years in the Wyoming State Penitentiary. Fourteen months after he was sentenced, appellant filed a petition for post-conviction relief under §§ 7-14-101 through 7-14-108, W.S. 1977. He appeals from the trial court’s order denying his petition for post-conviction relief.
We affirm.
Although appellant’s statement of the issues is somewhat disjointed, the thrust of his claim is clear. In essence, he contends that he should not have been charged with felony larceny under § 6-3-402(a) and (e)(i). He claims that he should have been charged instead with unauthorized use of an automobile under § 31-11-102, W.S. 1977.
While acknowledging appellant’s statement of the issues, we find that a preliminary inquiry must be made into whether post-conviction relief was available to appellant under the circumstances of this case.
Under the Wyoming post-conviction statutes, only an alleged deprivation of constitutional rights can furnish grounds for relief. Johnson v. State, Wyo., 592 P.2d 285, 286, cert. denied 442 U.S. 932, 99 S.Ct. 2864, 61 L.Ed.2d 300 (1979). The inquiry under a statute such as ours is limited to a determination of whether or not the defendant was denied the right to be represented by counsel, to have witnesses, and to have a fair opportunity to prepare and *1245present his defense. Johnson v. State, supra.
Appellant does not allege a denial of any of these rights. He does not claim that he was deprived of his constitutional rights in the proceedings below. His claim that he was improperly charged may not properly be raised in a proceeding for post-conviction relief. Such a claim should have been raised in a direct appeal from the conviction.
We have said that a petition for post-conviction relief will not lie where the claimed error would or should have been raised on appeal. State ex rel. Hopkinson v. District Court, Teton County, Wyo., 696 P.2d 54, 64 (1985); McCutcheon v. State, Wyo., 638 P.2d 650, 652 (1982). Post-conviction relief may not be employed as a substitute for an appeal. Johnson v. State, supra.
Accordingly, appellant cannot be afforded post-conviction relief.
Affirmed.