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Summary 2009 WY 116

Summary of Decision issued September 22, 2009

Summaries are prepared by Law Librarians and are not official statements of the Wyoming Supreme Court.

Case Name: Painovich v. Painovich

Citation: 2009 WY 116

Docket Number: S-09-0031

Appeal from the District Court of Sweetwater County, the Honorable Jere A. Ryckman, Judge.

Representing Appellant Steven Painovich: James M. Peterson and John M. Kuker of Romsa & Kuker, LLC, Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Representing Appellee Jacqueline Painovich: John A. Zebre of Zebre Law Offices, PC, Rock Springs, Wyoming.

Facts/Discussion: In 2006, Jacqueline filed for divorce from Steven. Subsequently, Steven answered the complaint and retained counsel. Following a hearing to dispose of the marital property, in which Steven failed to appear, the district court entered judgment in favor of Jacqueline.
The Court has repeatedly stated that it is the appellant?s burden to bring a complete record to the Court for review. When the appellant fails to do so, the Court must accept the district court?s findings as being based upon sufficient evidence. Steven failed to appeal the denial of the motion for relief from judgment as required by the Wyoming Rules of Appellate Procedure. Consequently, the latter claims and arguments were not properly before the Court and could not be considered.

Conclusion: After reviewing the record on appeal, the Court could not find that the district court abused its discretion in denying Steven?s motion to vacate filed pursuant to W.R.C.P. 60. Steven failed to provide a record on appeal adequate for the Court to properly evaluate the district court?s exercise of discretion. In addition, many of the arguments in the appeal were related to the denial of a second motion that was not appealed.

Affirmed.

C.J. Voigt delivered the decision.

Link: http://tinyurl.com/ns9ssb .

[SPECIAL NOTE: This opinion uses the "Universal Citation." It was given an "official" citation when it was issued. You should use this citation whenever you cite the opinion, with a P.3d parallel citation. Please note when you look at the opinion that all of the paragraphs are numbered. When you pinpoint cite to a quote, you should cite to this paragraph number rather than to any page number. If you need assistance in putting together a citation using the Universal Citation form, please contact the Wyoming State Law Library.]

Full post as published by Law Library Letter on September 22, 2009 (boomark / email).