Summary
The Supreme Court of Wyoming affirmed Gregory Dan Roden’s felony property-destruction conviction. The court held that the statutory measure of damages for injured property is the reasonable cost of restoration, subject to the property’s overall value, and that questions concerning the use of new or used materials and treatment of the camper shell were for the jury. The court also concluded that sufficient evidence supported damages exceeding $1,000 and that the jury instructions did not constitute reversible error.
Topics
Practice areas
Questions Presented
- What is the proper measure of damages under Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-3-201(b)(iii) for injured property?
- Whether the State presented sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the damages amounted to $1,000 or more.
- Whether the jury was properly instructed on the measure of damages.
Holdings
- For property charged as injured rather than destroyed, the statutory measure of damages is the reasonable cost of restoring the injured property, subject to the limitation that restoration costs cannot exceed the property's overall value if the property were treated as destroyed. Within those limits, the jury determines the reasonable restoration cost, including whether to use new or used materials and whether an attached camper shell is part of the pickup or a separate item.
- The evidence was sufficient for a rational jury to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Roden caused more than $1,000 in damages.
- The jury instructions, considered as a whole, correctly stated the law and sufficiently covered the relevant issue; the trial court did not commit reversible error by refusing to add the word "reasonable" or to adopt Roden's proposed limitations concerning used glass and the camper shell.
Key quotations
“We conclude that, in the criminal context as well, the measure of damages is the reasonable cost of restoration.” (173 P.3d at 372)
“In sum, the statute unambiguously provides the broad measure of damages, which is the cost of restoring Mr. Mortenson's pickup.” (173 P.3d at 373)
“the detailed application of that measure of damages to the circumstances of Mr. Roden's case, such as whether the camper shell was part of the pickup or a separate item, and whether the windows should be replaced with new or used glass, are questions of fact that should be determined by the jury.” (173 P.3d at 373)
Factual background
While intoxicated, Roden drove David Mortenson's pickup into a hotel parking lot and used a hammer to break the windshield, side windows, and plastic windows of the attached camper shell. An automobile glass company charged $1,715.79 to replace the broken windows, although defense evidence suggested that used glass or a separately valued camper shell might have reduced the cost. The jury found that the damage exceeded the $1,000 felony threshold.
Procedural history
Roden was charged with stealing a pickup and with felony property destruction. The jury acquitted him of theft but convicted him of felony property destruction after finding that the damage exceeded $1,000. The Wyoming Supreme Court reviewed the statutory-interpretation, sufficiency-of-the-evidence, and jury-instruction challenges and affirmed.