Court Opinion

ID: 9550362
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 18:34:30.413909+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:21:27.328322
License: Public Domain

THOMAS, Justice,
concurring.
I agree with the disposition of this case according to the majority opinion, and I am satisfied with the justification for that disposition except for the conclusion of the court that there was harmless error committed in the admission of evidence relating to the $1,400 monthly stipend checks issued to DeGroff and cashed subsequent to his murder. In my view, that evidence was admissible; there was no error with respect to the court’s rulings; and, consequently, it *867is not necessary to justify that evidence under the harmless error doctrine.
In Coleman v. State, Wyo., 741 P.2d 99 (1987), the court outlined a process pursuant to which a trial judge should articulate the reasons for his decision in admitting evidence manifesting the resolution of the tandem of conditions for admission set forth in Rules 402, 403 and 404, W.R.E. In this case, the record does not contain an explanation by the trial judge of the decision to admit the evidence relating to the $1,400 checks. This record clearly demonstrates, however, that the theory of the prosecution was, in part, that the murder of DeGroff was attributable to Miller’s avarice. The majority correctly finds that the evidence concerning the $500 check was relevant to motive, as the prosecution argued. In my view, the evidence concerning the $1,400 monthly stipend checks is equally relevant with respect to motive.
Consider these events in context. The goose that laid the golden egg had been senselessly assaulted. The $500 check was lost, but it was not the only potential golden egg. The eggs of the future, however, would be lost if the goose, dissatisfied with the inhumane treatment it had received, elected to migrate. Those golden eggs, however, still could be gathered so long as no one else knew that the goose was dead. Therefore, it became necessary to kill the goose in order to secure the golden eggs that were yet to be. This is not a far fetched motive for the killing of DeGroff, and the proof with respect to the cashing of those checks demonstrates its validity.
While the majority correctly notes that motive is not an element of the offense of first-degree murder, motive is evidence that is relevant to establish premeditation, one of the essential elements of that offense. See Coleman v. State, supra. Premeditation obviously was an issue in this case, and Miller’s justification for De-Groff's death, a rather inane explanation, manifested a sharp contest of the presence of that element. The prosecution needed to establish that element, however, in order to achieve a conviction on the charge of being an accessory before the fact to the crime of first-degree murder.
The removal of DeGroff’s driver’s license from his wallet, before disposing of the wallet along with his clothes and his body, and the use of that license to cash the $1,400 checks after his murder support the theory of the prosecution that the murder was committed to gain control of the funds represented by the monthly checks. Viewed in this light, the cashing of the checks substantiates a motive for killing DeGroff which would justify a conclusion that his murder was premeditated and satisfies the requirements of Rule 404(b), W.R.E. The requirements of Rules 402 and 403, W.R.E., also are satisfied, and this evidence was admissible pursuant to the analysis set forth in Coleman v. State, supra. I would hold that there was a legitimate basis for the trial court’s decision to admit the evidence of cashing the $1,400 checks, and no error occurred with respect to that evidence.