Summary
This is a Wyoming Supreme Court opinion affirming the appellant's conviction for voluntary manslaughter. The court addresses claims regarding erroneous jury instructions on self-defense and the state's burden of proof, as well as an alleged abuse of discretion in sentencing. Applying the plain error rule due to lack of objection at trial, the court finds no reversible error and upholds the sentence.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- Whether Instruction No. 13 adequately presented the appellant's self‑defense theory and satisfied due‑process requirements.
- Whether the trial court abused its discretion in imposing a ten‑ to fifteen‑year sentence for voluntary manslaughter.
Holdings
- The court held that Instruction No. 13, taken with the other instructions, adequately presented the appellant's self‑defense theory and correctly informed the jury of the State's burden of proof; therefore no reversible error existed.
- The court held that the sentence was within statutory limits and did not constitute an abuse of discretion; the sentence was affirmed.
Key quotations
“A person is justified in the use of force to defend oneself against an aggressor's imminent use of unlawful force to the extent it appears reasonable to that person under the circumstances then existing.” (at 1109)
“The law is, I submit, that appellate courts can and should review the propriety of sentences, and, in doing so, have a duty to set standards to guide trial judges in exercising their sentencing discretion.” (at 1115)
Factual background
Sharron Scheikofsky was charged with second‑degree murder of her husband, Lowell Scheikofsky. A jury convicted her of voluntary manslaughter. She asserted self‑defense, claiming she was abused by her husband, and challenged the trial court's self‑defense instruction and the sentence imposed.
Procedural history
The trial court convicted Scheikofsky of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced her to ten to fifteen years. She appealed on self‑defense instruction, burden‑of‑proof instruction, and alleged sentencing abuse.