Date: 06-12-2024

Case Style:

The State of Wyoming v. Camilo Jesus Alarcon-Bustos

Case Number: 2024 WY 62

Judge: Dawnessa A. Synder

Court: District Court, Carbon County, Wyoming

Plaintiff's Attorney: Carbon County Wyoming District Attorney

Defendant's Attorney:

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Description:

Rawlins, Wyoming criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant charged with felony destruction and misdemeanor reckless driving and possessing an open container of an alcoholic beverage.

[¶3] The road through Dixon, Wyoming, curves past a residential area and park. The speed limit on that road is 30 miles per hour. On October 3, 2022, at around 10:00 p.m., Mr. Alarcon-Bustos, towing his work trailer with his truck, drove through Dixon. He lost control of the truck on the curve, hit the curb, and crashed into a retaining wall and a chain link fence surrounding the park. The trailer detached from the truck and landed in the park. The damage to the park exceeded $18,000. Mr. Alarcon-Bustos was charged with felony property destruction and misdemeanor reckless driving and possessing an open container of alcohol.

[¶4] At trial, Shirley Stocks and Tyler Webb testified that, while they did not see the crash, they heard it. After she heard the crash, Ms. Stocks went to the scene, called 911, and began taking photographs with her cell phone. She testified that two men got out of the truck, took off down a nearby alley, and then returned to the scene. She described the men as "staggering pretty bad . . . [like] [w]hen somebody has been drinking" and stated that she "didn't really feel that they were hurt bad." After the men returned, she observed them speaking with Mr. Webb and then leaving again.

[¶5] Mr. Webb testified that after he arrived at the accident, he saw two men get out of the truck, arguing. He thought they were drunk because "they just hit a wall" and "[t]here was a bunch of beer cans all over the ground." Mr. Webb testified Mr. Alarcon-Bustos told him that somebody had stolen the truck and, after Mr. Webb offered to call 911, both men "took off [on foot] down the alley" and did not return. After the men took off, Mr. Webb called the sheriff's department. Mr. Webb testified he might have told the sheriff's department that the men were "drunker than 300 Indians" and stated he jokingly asked one of the officers if he could take the chainsaw that was in the truck.

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[¶6] Carbon County Sheriff's Deputy Casey Lehr arrived and conducted a crash scene investigation. He observed an opened beer can that had spilled on the floorboard of the truck, many unopened beer cans in the back seat of the truck, a half-empty box of wine on the passenger floorboard, and two or three empty beer cans on the ground. After measuring the skid marks on the road, Deputy Lehr calculated that the truck was traveling at 55 miles per hour as it approached the curve. Deputy Lehr concluded that Mr. Alarcon-Bustos caused the crash by "traveling at a high rate of speed [so that he] was unable to navigate the turn," and "[w]hen the vehicle struck the curb, the truck then spun around causing the trailer to detach from the vehicle. The truck went off [and] got stuck on the retaining wall. The trailer went past the truck and ended up in the park."

[¶7] Mr. Alarcon-Bustos took the stand in his own defense. He testified he was familiar with the road through Dixon and had experience pulling a trailer with his truck. He admitted he accidentally crashed his truck into the park, but he explained that the accident was caused by "a problem with the wheel." He testified he noticed the truck "kind of shake," so he braked, and the truck "went off to the fence." He originally thought one of his truck tires "had gone out or had gone flat, but it was actually the rim that had broken." Mr. Alarcon-Bustos also testified he had not been drinking and that all the beer cans in his truck were closed at the time of the crash.

[¶8] In the State's rebuttal, Deputy Lehr explained that his crash investigation revealed no evidence that the tire failed prior to the crash and that "[i]f the wheel failed the way [Mr. Alarcon-Bustos described], there would be gouge marks on the asphalt on the highway" and there were no gouge marks, only skid marks, on the highway. Deputy Lehr agreed the "hubs of the spokes on the [tire] rim were broken" but, based upon the skid marks, he opined that after the tire hit the curb, the hub spokes broke and "detached from the vehicle."...

Outcome: "[¶9] The jury found Mr. Alarcon-Bustos guilty of felony property destruction, misdemeanor reckless driving, and misdemeanor possession of an open container of alcohol. The district court sentenced Mr. Alarcon-Bustos to two to four years of incarceration, suspended in favor of two years of probation. Mr. Alarcon-Bustos

Affirmed.

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