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King v. State2/15/2002
On the morning of July 15, 1998, Sergeant Doug Matthews and Officer Rhett Groll arrived at an apartment in the South Valley Apartments in Evanston, to talk to appellant Victor King (King). The officers arranged for King to meet with a detective at the police department at noon to discuss a burglary that had occurred. Around noon, the same officers were called to investigate a report that King was causing a disturbance at the Chief Washakie Apartments. Sergeant Matthews arrived first and was met by the apartment manager, who told Sergeant Matthews that King had been on the property without his shirt, ranting and making threats but that he had left and walked across the street toward the South Valley Apartments.
[ ] Sergeant Matthews advised Officer Groll, who was en route, of the situation, and the two met in the parking lot of the South Valley Apartments. The officers began looking for King and asking people if they had seen him. No one admitted to knowing where King was, but Officer Groll finally spotted him reclined in the front passenger seat of a parked car. Officer Groll told King to get out of the car. King initially refused to open the car door but eventually did open the door and leave the vehicle.
[ ] Sergeant Matthews noticed that King smelled of alcohol, was very agitated, and had a "wild look in his eye." King insisted he had not broken the law but did not explain to the officers what had happened at the Chief Washakie Apartments. The officers decided to arrest King for breach of the peace, and Officer Groll informed King of their intentions. King responded that he was not going to jail, and he punched Sergeant Matthews in the shoulder, knocking him back a couple of feet. When Officer Groll tried to restrain him, King punched him in the shoulder, knocking him back as well. King then turned and ran about twenty feet, but when he realized he could not outrun the officers, he turned around and assumed a fighter's stance. The officers attempted to spray King with pepper spray, and Officer Groll grabbed King in an effort to get him to the ground. King put up a struggle and in the process hit Officer Groll in the chin and face with his fist and also kneed him in the groin. Both officers testified that these punches were painful.
[ ] The officers were finally able to wrestle King to the ground, but King continued to struggle until Sergeant Matthews managed to handcuff one of his wrists. At that point, King announced, "I'm done. I give up." King was arrested and charged with two counts (one for each officer) of intentionally and knowingly causing or attempting to cause bodily injury to a peace officer engaged in the lawful performance of his official duties. A public defender was appointed to represent King, and the case went to trial. The jury returned a guilty verdict on both counts, and the trial court sentenced King to serve concurrent terms in the Wyoming State Penitentiary of not less than four nor more than eight years on each count. King appeals from these convictions.
STANDARD OF REVIEW
[ ] King's argument to this court is that his trial counsel performed so deficiently that he was denied a fair trial. He identifies five specific portions of his trial during which he claims his counsel's representation was ineffective.
[ ] This court summarized our standard of review for claims of ineffective assistance of counsel in Jackson v. State, 902 P.2d 1292, 1295 (Wyo. 1995):
When reviewing a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, the paramount determination is whether, in light of all the circumstances, trial counsel's acts or omissions were outside the wide range of professionally competent assistance. Herdt v. State, 891 P.2d 793, 796 (
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