Court Opinion

ID: 9797471
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 04:21:44.900379+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:56:21.244235
License: Public Domain

HILL, Chief Justice,
dissenting, in which LEHMAN, J., joins.
[T 18] I concur with the majority's conclusion that there was sufficient evidence to support the jury's verdict. However, I must respectfully dissent because I do not believe that there was fatal variance between the crime charged in the Information and that proved at trial.
[119] The Information charged that Sanchez conspired "to commit an offense within the State of Wyoming, or conspired to commit an act beyond the State of Wyoming." The instruction presented to the jury at trial stated that to convict Sanchez, the State needed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Sanchez had entered into a conspiracy specifically intended to have effect in Park County, Wyoming. The majority concludes *710that the failure to include an element of the offense charged in the Information-namely, that a conspiracy occurred that was intended to have an effect in Wyoming-was a fatal variance mandating reversal. I cannot agree with this analysis. Although the language in the Information and the instructions to the jury did not mesh perfectly, there can be no question that the Information "fairly indicate[d] the crime charged, [stated] the- essential elements of the alleged crime and [was] sufficiently definite so that the defendant [could] prepare his defense" and granted protection from prosecution for the same offense. Gonzales v. State, 551 P.2d 929, 933 (Wyo.1976); 15A C.J.S. Conspiracy § 162 (2002).
[120] While the Information says that Sanchez conspired "to commit an offense in Wyoming," and the jury instruction says he committed an act "intended to have an effect in Park County, Wyoming," I fail to see where there is a practical difference between the two. The factual basis for charging Sanchez in a Wyoming jurisdiction was that he conspired with others to possess drugs with the intent to distribute them in Park County, Wyoming. Obviously, conspiring to possess drugs with the intent to distribute them is an offense in Wyoming and was intended to have an effect in Wyoming-the successful sale of an illegal substance in Park County. The two statements are merely logical corollaries of each other, not contradictory.
[121] The majority opinion cites the factors set out in Gonzales but does not analyze them within the context of this case. This is not a situation where the Information charged the defendant with one crime but the jury was instructed on another. Sanchez makes no serious argument that the language difference impaired his ability to prepare or make an effective defense or that it left him open to future prosecution for the same offense. In fact, the only reasonable reading of the record is that Sanchez was well aware of the charges against him and presented an adequate, if not necessarily effective, defense. In short, there was no prejudice to Sanchez. The majority's conclusion has elevated form over substance while failing to give due regard to the actual practical effect of the alleged variance in light of our decision in Gonzales.
[122] I would affirm Sanchez' conviction in all respects.