Jackson Hole News

Stanyon: 'A very loud, grotesque pop'

Injured Deputy Takes Stand in Mangy Moose Melee Trial

By Gil Brady, 9-18-07

JACKSON, Wyo. – The trial of a man accused of “donkey kicking” and badly injuring a local lawman, while being arrested last winter, took a dramatic turn Tuesday when Teton County Sheriff’s Deputy Todd Stanyon took the stand following opening arguments in District Court here.

His voice breaking, and at times on the verge of tears, Stanyon accepted a box of tissues from Prosecuting Attorney Steve Weichman while telling the jury about the painful injury he sustained following a tussle he and fellow Deputy Chad Sachse had with Robert Hulsy, during an arrest on March 14.

The two peace officers testified they arrived at the Mangy Moose shortly before 2 a.m. to find three to four men, including saloon employees and Hulsy’s roommate, pinning the reportedly belligerent defendant to the saloon’s upstairs deck.

Other eyewitnesses who took the stand Tuesday said that before police arrived Hulsy had lifted a metal barstool and confronted a saloon worker until a bouncer raced in, disarmed him, and pushed Hulsy, 26, outside.

While forcibly restraining the defendant, two saloon employees also testified that Hulsy threatened to “kill” them and even “buy the bar” and have the “bouncers fired.”

Upon assuming control of Hulsy, Sachse and Stanyon claim they tried escorting him toward the stairs, as Hulsy’s roommate followed, but had to “sweep” the arrestee’s legs out from under him to stop his allegedly “stomping” their feet and legs. The maneuver, Sachse testified, sent Hulsy sprawling to the ground.

After being sternly warned to calm down by both deputies, police say Hulsy briefly did.

Standing in court, Stanyon demonstrated how, after he and Sachse lifted Hulsy up and began escorting him down the stairs in a dual hold, the defendant lunged forward into Sachse. It was at this moment, the injured deputy testified, that Hulsy allegedly kicked his left leg back and struck Stanyon bellow his right knee.

“Hulsy threw his weight forward,” Stanyon said. “I was directly above to the right. He kicked back and caught me below the knee.”

Back in his witness chair, Stanyon described what he says happened next.

“It immediately dislocated my knee,” the deputy said, his voice cracking as tears crept into his eyes. “Making a very loud, grotesque pop…I…went to the ground like a sack of wet cement.”

Stanyon, who testified to having previously injured the same leg in the 1990s, said he sustained a knee injury during Hulsy’s arrest that has kept him from returning to full patrol duties.

“I was on the verge of blacking out. The sky started to spin, (my) stomach was churning,” the deputy told the court, recalling how he hopped down the rest of the stairs and collapsed onto an outcropping of stones.

Both deputies testified that after Stanyon gathered himself off the ground, the injured lawman hobbled on one leg and resumed assisting Sachse with wrangling the handcuffed Hulsy into a sheriff’s trooper. Stanyon was then brought to the hospital and Hulsy was dropped off at the county jail.

Dressed in a blue jacket and red tie, the defendant sat quietly in the packed courtroom and watched the proceedings, occasionally sharing a scribbled note with his defense team.

During his opening arguments, defense attorney Greg Blenkinsop conceded that his client had drank heavily — reportedly obtaining a blood-alcohol level around .24 — and misbehaved on the night he was arrested. However, the attorney said, the trial was not about Hulsy’s behavior, but whether he directly, knowingly, and willfully caused harm to Stanyon’s leg. Thus, interfering with Stanyon’s lawful duties.

On cross-examination, after reviewing his incident reports and affidavit for arrest, Sachse recanted his previous statement that Stanyon reported at the scene that Hulsy had kicked him. Also, because he was looking forward as he whisked Hulsy down the stairs, Sachse said he could not see whether Hulsy had kicked Stanyon. However, he did testify to feeling a burst of energy as Hulsy lunged into him.

“I don’t care what happened,” Weichman told the jury of 13 men and women. “I don’t care if (he) saw the kick. The evidence is Deputy Stanyon went down either way, because of a lurch or kick. Stanyon shouted, ‘He kicked me,’ and went down the stairs and almost blacked out because of the pain.”

Asked during a break how he thought things were going, Hulsy’s father said: “We’re hopeful. I think Mr. Blenkinsop is doing a good job.”

“How many mojitos (or beers) did you (or Deputy Sachse) throw down before (responding) to the Mangy Moose call at 1:32 a.m.?,” Weichman suddenly asked Stanyon, who laughed and said “none” before leaving the stand.

Claiming the state had failed to prove that Hulsy “knowingly” and “intentionally” injured Stanyon, Blenkinsop made a motion for a full acquittal of his client, which Judge Nancy J. Guthrie denied after jurors had been dismissed for the day.

Hulsy has been charged with one count of interference with a peace officer, a felony. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in jail and $10,000 in fines, or both.

However, after the jury was excused, both sides discussed whether jurors should receive instructions to consider a “lesser included offense of misdemeanor resisting arrest.” The prosecution is also pleading for the judge to instruct the jury that they can infer “a general intent” by the defendant “doing an act” before going into deliberation and delivering their verdict. 

Guthrie is expected to rule on those issues prior to the start of the second day of trial—scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Wednesday in 9th District Court.

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