Sanderson v. State

Summary

The Supreme Court of Wyoming affirmed Shane Sanderson's convictions for one count of indecent liberties with a child and two counts of felony child abuse. The court held that the challenged character-related expert testimony did not constitute plain error, that Wyoming's indecent liberties statute was not unconstitutionally vague as applied, that the prosecutor's closing arguments did not constitute plain error, and that sufficient evidence supported the child abuse convictions.

Holdings

1. The counselor's testimony concerning the victims' compliance, perceptions of their father, and recantation behavior did not constitute impermissible character evidence under W.R.E. 404(a), and Sanderson failed to establish plain error.
2. Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-3-105(a) was not unconstitutionally vague as applied to Sanderson's conduct of massaging his daughter's anal area with K-Y Jelly.
3. The prosecutor's statements concerning the consistency of the victims' accounts and Sanderson's need to defend himself did not constitute reversible prosecutorial misconduct or plain error.
4. The evidence was sufficient for a rational jury to find that Sanderson inflicted physical injury on both children within the meaning of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-3-202(a)(ii)(B).

Questions Presented

1. Whether testimony by a counselor concerning the victims' compliance, perceptions, family dynamics, and recantation constituted impermissible character evidence under W.R.E. 404(a).
2. Whether Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 14-3-105(a), prohibiting knowingly taking immodest, immoral, or indecent liberties with a child, was unconstitutionally vague as applied to Sanderson's conduct.
3. Whether the prosecutor committed misconduct by arguing that the victims' accounts held up under law-enforcement scrutiny and that a person acting appropriately with a child would not have to defend himself.
4. Whether sufficient evidence established physical injury to support the two felony child-abuse convictions.

Disposition

affirmed