Court Opinion

ID: 9603393
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 02:05:43.350181+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:08:23.572507
License: Public Domain

THOMAS, Justice,
specially concurring, with whom CARDINE, Chief Justice, joins.
I can only concur in the result in this case. The inclusion of the material relating to the concurrent sentence doctrine is purely gratuitous on the part of the majority. It was neither discussed nor briefed. Consequently, there is no justification for its inclusion in this opinion except as an academic matter.
I have serious reservations about the viability of the concurrent sentence doctrine. I believe that the instances in which the government could assume the burden of establishing that there is “no possibility that adverse collateral consequences would flow” from the counts as to which error is asserted (3 W. LaFave & J. Israel, Criminal Procedure § 26.5 at 249 (1984)) indeed would be very few. It seems to me that there are adverse collateral consequences which flow from any felony conviction, at least potentially, and if the concept of the concurrent sentence doctrine were squarely before the court, I question whether it could be adopted. Furthermore, if the concurrent sentence doctrine has any utility, the court certainly overlooked a glaring opportunity to invoke it in Howard v. State, 762 P.2d 28 (Wyo.1988).