Opinion ID: 2542678
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: facts

Text: [¶3] On the morning of March 16, 2004, Ms. Cazier and her husband, Chad, were together at their residence in Lincoln County, Wyoming. After their children left for school, the couple began to argue. Ms. Cazier became angry. She punched Mr. Cazier in the face and whipped him repeatedly with television cables. [1] [¶4] Later that day, Kevin Jackson, Chief of the Afton Police Department, received an anonymous phone tip that Mr. Cazier should be contacted. The informant believed that Mr. Cazier was being beaten by his wife and . . . was in very bad physical condition. The following day, March 17, 2004, Chief Jackson met with Mr. Cazier and accompanied him to the Lincoln County Sheriff's office to meet with Officer Timothy Malik. [2] Officer Malik immediately observed that Mr. Cazier was injured, noting a black eye and cuts on his face and head. Mr. Cazier lifted his shirt, revealing numerous lacerations and bruises on his torso. Mr. Cazier described the events of the previous day and explained that Ms. Cazier had inflicted his injuries. Mr. Cazier also showed Officer Malik a cut on his forearm and explained that his wife came at him with a knife. He believed he had been cut in the course of attempting to defend himself. Additionally, Mr. Cazier related a prior incident of whipping on March 11, 2004. [¶5] Officer Malik accompanied Mr. Cazier to the emergency room at Star Valley Medical Center. During the physical examination, Officer Malik took photos of Mr. Cazier to document his injuries. Mr. Cazier was admitted and remained in the hospital for several days. [¶6] On March 18, 2004, Officer Malik executed a search warrant at the Cazier residence and retrieved the television cables and a note from Ms. Cazier apologizing to her husband for her behavior. Ms. Cazier was charged with aggravated assault and battery, in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-502(a)(i) (LexisNexis 2003) for beating her husband with the television cables on March 16, 2004. [3] Ms. Cazier was also charged with two other felony counts  aggravated assault and battery, in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-502(a)(i), for the alleged beating on March 11, 2004, and assault with a deadly weapon, in violation of Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 6-2-502(a)(ii) (LexisNexis 2003), for allegedly cutting Mr. Cazier with a knife. [¶7] A jury trial was held. Ms. Cazier denied any fight with her husband on March 11, 2004, and introduced evidence that he was at work at the time. Ms. Cazier did not dispute that she and her husband fought on March 16, 2004, that she had hit him with the cables, or that she had armed herself with a knife. However, she claimed that Mr. Cazier had been the aggressor and described her actions as self defense. She denied that Mr. Cazier had been cut by the knife during their fight. She also claimed that Mr. Cazier caused many of his own injuries by hitting himself. The jury found Ms. Cazier guilty of one count of aggravated assault and battery for beating Mr. Cazier with the cables on March 16, 2004. The jury returned a not guilty verdict on the other two counts. [¶8] Ms. Cazier was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of eighteen months to five years, which was suspended pending completion of a split sentence  one year of incarceration in the Lincoln County Jail and three years of supervised probation. The sentence was stayed pending this appeal. Further facts will be discussed as needed in our review of Ms. Cazier's claims on appeal.