A man accused of beating up his wife pleaded not guilty to two felonies and one misdemeanor.
Darrel Lee Montez, 42, of Green River, appeared in the Third District Court of Judge Richard Lavery at an arraignment to two felony counts of aggravated assault and battery and one misdemeanor charge of domestic battery.
If found guilty of the all three counts, he could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, six months in jail and a maximum fine of $20,750.
According to court documents, on Oct. 23, 2016, a Rock Springs Police officer responded to the Memorial Hospital of Sweetwater County to check on a woman who claimed to have been beaten by her husband.
Upon arrival, the officer tried to speak with Victoria Klemetsen, Klemetsen was in obvious pain while laying on a hospital bed. The officer observed a large wound on her left cheek and it appeared to be bruised. The RSPD officer tried to interview Klemetsen, but she was in too much pain and he decided to stop the interview.
Montez was interviewed; and after the interview he was arrested.
The officer then went back to the hospital to interview Klemetsen again. He asked if it was alright to try another interview and she said yes. During the interview, the officer had to take multiple breaks because he could tell Klemetsen was in pain and she would get visibly upset and start breathing hard.
Klemetsen told the officer she and Montez were playing a game; and while they were playing Montez was on his cell phone. She asked him to get off of the cell phone and he got mad and told her to shut up and them proceeded to call her names. Klemetsen claims Montez allegedly hit her three times on the right cheek, once on the left cheek and twice on the top of her left shoulder. She claims he allegedly head butted her too, which caused pain in her nose.
Klemetsen said after she was hit she fell down and hit the bathroom door and toilet while she was falling to the floor. She told the officer she didn’t remember where her body hit as she fell because she lost consciousness for a bit. When she tried to stand up, she fell down again. By this time Montez had left.
Klemetsen could not remember which hand Montez used to hit her or if he used and open hand or a fist, but she thought he used an open hand. Klemetsen also told the officer she and Montez had been together for 15 years and they have three children together.
A medical record on Klemetsen obtained by a police officer showed Klemetsen had a fractured shoulder and displacement of that same shoulder.
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