Update: Judge Richard Lavery denied Jacob Anglesey's motion to withdraw his initial no contrast plea to aggravated homicide Friday afternoon. The decision issued by Lavery details his reasoning to deny his motion. "... the court concludes that Mr. Anglesey has not shown a fair and just reason to allow him to withdraw his plea," the document states.
For more details, look in the Dec. 20 issue of the Green River Star.
Jacob Anglesey wants a trial, but a district court judge has yet to decide on accepting his attorneys’ motion to withdraw his plea.
As of press time, Third District Court Judge Richard Lavery hadn’t decided on the motion.
Appearing before Judge Lavery Monday afternoon, flanked by his defense attorneys and in front of a large group of spectators, many of whom wore pins with the words “justice for Konnor” printed on them, Anglesey said he wants to withdraw his original plea of no contest to aggravated homicide. Anglesey’s plea was originally entered as part of a plea agreement which reduced his original charge, first-degree murder, in the 2009 death of two-year-old Konnor Allen.
Sentencing was scheduled to take place next week, but may be cancelled if Lavery accepts Anglesey’s request. Sweetwater County Attorney Daniel Erramouspe said the pre-sentence investigation required for the sentencing hearing recommended “a lengthy prison sentence” during Anglesey’s hearing. If the motion is granted, Anglesey will be tried on the original first-degree murder charge, not the aggravated homicide charge.
The request comes after Anglesey’s attorneys, Vaughn Neubauer and Joshua Merseal, claim they were excluded from receiving important documents provided to the Sweetwater County Attorney’s Office from the Wyoming Department of Criminal Investigation. That documentation, according to Neubauer, changes Anglesey’s defense to a situation where Allen’s mother could have caused his fatal injuries, saying he’s no longer considering an accident theory in explaining what happened to Allen.
Neubauer focuses on statements made by Allen’s mother, who said in a police interview that she considered killing Anglesey after her son’s death. He also alleges places where treats were stored in the house, as well as what he considered prior, recorded instances of violence and anger as reasons why they want to change Anglesey’s defense strategy.
Neubauer said he may also consider requesting Lavery disqualify the Sweetwater County Attorney’s Office from prosecuting Anglesey should he grant the motion to withdraw the plea. Neubauer and Merseal have repeatedly alleged the county attorney’s office of not delivering everything they’re required to under the discovery rules attorneys are required to follow. The county attorney’s office has denied these allegations.
Special Agent Andrew Hanson from Wyoming DCI was called to the stand to discuss what happened with the reports he sent to the county attorney’s office. Hanson said DCI was in the process of transferring to a paperless file management system at the time his records of the Anglesey investigation were subpoenaed in May. The original reports were kept in a word processing file and he had made corrections to the two-page report prior to submitting it for digital approval by his supervisor. When the subpoena was received, Hanson said he sent what he believed to be the complete file to the county attorney’s office. However, when reviewing the investigation documents for another subpoena issued on November, Hanson discovered the two-page report was not included in the files he initially sent.
He said the issue came about because the file was not approved by his supervisor when he sent the initial investigation documents and was not included in what their software considered the complete case file.
Hanson said after discovering the error, he contacted his supervisors, the county attorney’s office and the Wyoming DCI director and informed them of the issue.
At the end of the hearing, Lavery asked Anglesey directly what he wanted to do, with Anglesey requesting time to speak with his attorneys. Lavery granted Anglesey until Wednesday to make his decision. Shortly after the hearing concluded, Lavery reconvened the hearing, where Anglesey said he wanted to withdraw his plea.
According to Erramouspe, if Lavery accepts Anglesey’s request, a scheduling conference for a trial date would have to take place.
“I can’t imagine (a trial) will be soon,” Erramouspe said.
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