United States v. Dewayne Wheeler

Wheeler is an Indian. He was convicted of the offense of rape by an Indian within an Indian reservation. 18 U. S.C. § 1153. On this appeal, Wheeler presents several contentions, and a variety of considerations, in combination, have impelled us to the conclusion that Wheeler is entitled to another trial.

The victim of the alleged rape was Wheeler’s former wife, Carol Ann Diggie. Almost nine years before the incident in question, Mrs. Diggie and Wheeler had been divorced by the tribal court. Thereafter, she married Diggie and lived on the Fort Hall Reservation with him and their two children. On the night in question, Diggie and Wheeler encountered each other in a bar and drank intoxicants together until the bar was closed. Wheeler was extremely drunk when the men left the bar in the company of an unknown young lady. The trio met several companions with whom they proceeded to an outdoor area. About two o’clock in the morning, an argument occurred, and Wheeler was severely beaten by several members of the group. To escape from his assailants, he leaped into a nearby river and, by swimming and then walking, eventually found his way to the trailer home of the Diggies. His former wife…