Laramie County D.A. Releases Info. on Criminal Court Proceedings
In an attempt to help reporters cover criminal court proceedings during the coronavirus pandemic, Laramie County District Attorney Leigh Anne Grant Manlove says she's going to try to issue a weekly press release with highlights from the previous week's cases.
Manlove issued the following information Friday:
This information is intended to help our local media outlets and reporters continue to provide news coverage of what’s happening in our courtrooms in light of the public health closures and recommendations for social distancing caused by COVID-19.
The public’s right to know continues, as does the criminal docket, so while lots of businesses and our schools are closed, the criminal justice system continues to operate on a daily basis.
Wyoming Rule of Professional Conduct 3.8 limits what I am allowed to say about a pending case, but I can make statements that are necessary to inform the public of the nature and extend of my actions and that serve a legitimate law enforcement purpose.
My ethics rules prohibit me from making an 'extra judicial,' or out-of-court comment that has a substantial likelihood of heightening public condemnation of an accused, but all of this information would have been available to anyone who had been in the courtroom.
On March 19, 2020, District Court Judge Catherine Rogers addressed the following cases:
- Doc. 34-484 Talia Poafpybitty, was sentenced on one count of Possession of a Weapon with Intent, to 15-17 months imposed, with credit for 506 days served. The State recommended an 18-24 month sentence be imposed and the Defense recommended Ms. Poafpybitty be sentenced to the time she had already served. On March 23, 2020, the Court reduced her sentence to 425-510 days, giving her credit for the 510 days she had already served and ordered her released immediately, finding she had fully served her sentence.
- Doc. 33-817 Charles Walker, was sentenced on one count of burglary, to 4-6 years in prison, suspended in favor of 3 years of probation. The State recommended a 2-4 year imposed sentence because of his 25 misdemeanor convictions and five prior felony convictions; additionally, the Wyoming Department of Corrections Probation and Parole recommendation was that he was not an appropriate candidate for community supervision. The Defense recommended a 2-4 year sentence be suspended in favor of 3 years’ probation.
- Doc 32-959 Epitacio Hernandez, was seen on a probation revocation arraignment; assigned a public defender.
- Doc 33-269 Trey Watson, appeared on his probation revocation arraignment; he admitted to the probation violations in his shoplifting case. The Court found Mr. Watson was no longer an appropriate candidate for community supervision and imposed a sentence of 366-408 days in prison.
- Tony Kelly was seen in two cases: Doc 33-484 (burglary) for a probation revocation arraignment and Doc 34-953 (strangulation and domestic battery) for arraignment; he was represented by the Wyoming Public Defender’s Office. The Court set July 13, 2020 as his trial date in the strangulation case and set his probation revocation status hearing for the same date. The State said it considered Mr. Kelly a flight risk because he knows that the Laramie County Sheriff’s Office is conducting an investigation into an aggravated child abuse case against him for injuries sustained by his infant son. Mr. Kelly’s $10,000 cash-only bond was not modified by the Court. He also has a pending misdemeanor domestic battery case, against the same victim, in CR2020-192 in Circuit Court.
On March 20, 2020, District Court Judge Peter Froelicher addressed the following cases:
- Doc 34-901 Zoe Slater was accepted to an adult community corrections center and her trial was set for June 2, 2020.
- Doc 34-947 William Onyski’s bond modification was granted by the Court over the State’s objection that he presents a safety risk to the victim and he was given a trial date.
- Doc 34-949, 34-950 Linda Erwin was given a trial date; and over the State’s objection, the Court granted a bond modification despite her history of contacting the victim in violation of the Court’s order.
- Doc 34-370 Christophe Carabajal denied the violations of his probation revocation and bond was set concurrent with his pending circuit court case.
Circuit Court proceedings included the following cases:
- Jose Luis Hernandez-Santana posted the $10,000 cash bond previously set by the Court in his case and rescinded its appointment of the Wyoming Public Defender’s Office in his case, in light of his ability to post the bond.
- Chelsea Saizon admitted to violating her probation for leaving residential treatment and failing drug court. The Court revoked her probation and imposed her underlying sentence of 173 days in jail.
- Cody McClendon made his initial appearance on felony charges for receiving stolen property and resisting arrest; his preliminary hearing was set for April 1, 2020, and his bond was set at $5,000 cash.
- Mark Wood made his initial appearance on felony charges for delivery of heroin and accessory after the fact; his preliminary hearing was set for April 3, 2020, and his bond was set 10% of $1,000 with a requirement for drug testing.
- Anthony Martinez posted his bond and his preliminary hearing was set for April 2, 2020.
- Roland French made his initial appearance on various charges, including: eluding, failure to stop at a red light, reckless driving, careless driving, speeding; and he was seen on his failure to appear in a previous case where he gave an alias; the judge noted he tested positive for methamphetamine the day before he appeared in Court. Mr. French’s preliminary hearing was set for April 3, 2020, and hisbond was set at $3,000 cash, for both dockets.
- Dominic Stalcup was a no-show, no-call for a must-appear status hearing and a bench warrant was issued for his failure to appear.
This list is not exhaustive. For additional information regarding a case or a defendant, please contact the Clerk of Circuit Court at (307) 633-4254, or the Clerk of District Court at (307) 633-4270.