Wyoming Casework,
False Arrest in Federal Court

Most of the Wyoming casework is false arrest work, with search and seizure questions in the file as well. Use of force takes a smaller share, and police misconduct and homicide defense are also present. That mix is why a Wyoming retention usually starts at false arrest and search casework, whichever side sends the record.

A false arrest claim is read from a compact record with time stamps running through it. Body-worn and dash camera video sets the sequence of the encounter. The arrest report gives the officer's account of the same sequence and the reason it offers for the stop, and the two are read side by side. Around them sit the agency policies and procedures that governed the stop, the detention and any search; the officer and civilian accounts, given in statements and later in deposition; and the involved officer's training and disciplinary records, which show what the officer had been taught to do before that shift.

The analysis follows that sequence from the first contact forward. At each point it asks what the officer knew, when the record shows it was known, and whether the action taken at that point matched the agency's policy and generally accepted police practice. The point at which a stop became an arrest is the point the record has to account for, because a false arrest claim puts probable cause in issue, and probable cause and the timing of an arrest sets out how that reading runs. Where the report and the video disagree about the order of events, the opinion says so and says where.

The training file is read for what the officer was taught about stops, detentions and arrests, and the policy for what the agency required, and both are then held up against national standards and practices, on the totality of the facts and circumstances. What comes out of that reading is an opinion on police practices, stated in the order the record was made.

More of the Wyoming file sits in federal court than in state court, and a federal civil rights claim sets the shape of the written work. A claim under Section 1983 needs an opinion that is disclosed in writing and then tested at deposition, so the report is written to be read by opposing counsel first, and it says where in the record each opinion comes from. The Library explains what a Section 1983 claim puts in issue for counsel who wants the framing spelled out.

A state prosecution in Wyoming can need the analysis before trial rather than at it. Where the charge grew out of a stop, the question is whether the stop, the detention and the arrest were carried out as the agency's policy and generally accepted practice require, and counsel may need that answer for a suppression motion rather than for a trial. Where the charge is homicide, the same reading is turned on the investigation: who was interviewed and in what order, what was collected, and what each account was checked against. In both forums, getting the opinion heard is retaining counsel's work, and the report is written with that in view.

Professor Gilbertson's testimony has not been excluded at trial in any state or federal court. Admissibility in any particular matter remains retaining counsel's responsibility. The courts where testimony has been admitted are listed on the Library page on how many matters and where.

Retaining from Wyoming runs on the same terms as every engagement. It opens with a conflict check, and counsel hears about a conflict immediately. A first inquiry holds the case type and posture, the jurisdiction and case number, the governing deadlines, what the record contains so far, and the parties for the conflict check. Nothing privileged travels with a first inquiry, and privileged material is never exchanged by email.

After retention the record travels on physical media, a computer flash drive or an external hard drive by mail or courier; online sharing services are not used. Depositions are taken by Zoom or a similar platform, so a Wyoming deposition does not wait on a travel calendar. Expert reports require sixty days of advance notice, and a bullet-point outline of the report is approved with retaining counsel before writing begins.

The practice is based in Naples, Florida, and trial testimony is offered in Wyoming on the published travel terms. The fee schedule and the travel terms are set out in full on the For Counsel page, and the Library note on what to send with a first inquiry covers the first step item by item.