TORRINGTON – The Goshen County District Court came into session late Wednesday morning for the probation revocation hearing of Colorado man, Brandon Woolsey.
The purpose of the revocation hearing was due to Woolsey having allegedly violated the terms of his probation by willingly checking out of an outpatient treatment program on February 29, 2024, in Casper.
Presiding over the proceedings was district judge, Ed Buchanan, along with Goshen County and prosecuting attorney, Eric Boyer, representing the State of Wyoming.
Representing the defense council of Woolsey was public defender, Eric Palen.
The hearing began with Judge Buchanan addressing the court in regard to the defendant’s much harsher original sentence.
“We were here just the other day and we’ve gone over the petition to revoke probation for Mr. Woolsey,” Buchanan stated. “The court entered in a denial, put in the request and appointed Mr. Palen as your attorney. Today is the day set for a hearing, and if he admits then we have three to five years on count one, a year on count two, a year on count three, and ten days on count four all running concurrently. Are we going to look at a sentence reduction? On the three to five if that’s not immediately imposed and suspended, he will remain incarcerated as that is a penitentiary sentence. Suspending that pending reevaluation logistically, I want to know how that’s going to work.”
In response to questions and concerns addressed by the district judge, prosecuting attorney Boyer noted although the defendant has a history of substance abuse, the state was not yet ready to impose original sentencing of three to five years incarceration.
The original charges of the defendant were not discussed.
“I would point out Your Honor we would all agree an appropriate disposition would be because of the admission of Mr. Woolsey,” Boyer said. “He would be placed back on supervised probation and then ordered to complete substance abuse treatment. Given that Mr. Woolsey has had a history of substance abuse, he’s had some treatment and arguably relapsed. The issue being Mr. Woolsey had a recommendation for outpatient treatment, his ultimate plan as the court would remember is hopefully to get back on probation and be transferred back to Colorado.”
Boyer further mentioned the defendant’s prime motivation in having one last chance at completing treatment stems upon trying to get back to raising his small child who still resides in Colorado.
“That’s a good approach for him to understand he’s looking down a gun barrel at a three to five year sentence, and it’s up to him to comply,” Boyer continued. “Should Mr. Woolsey comply with whatever treatment is recommended and then get back out to probation, he would be under the supervision required upon parole. We would have him serve counts two, three and four with credit given for time served, so we do not have to involve the state penitentiary system and have him transferred. He does not have a vehicle, a job or home here. The best thing would be to revoke probation.”
Boyer added further treatment was still an option at this particular point, however release was still out of the question.
“My theory is simply releasing Mr. Woolsey right now will cause more problems than it’s worth.”
As part of his probationary sentence, Woolsey was required to complete an inpatient treatment program, in which he was accepted to one located in Casper. When asked why he chose to willingly violate his probation by choosing to withdraw from the program provided, the defendant proclaimed the atmosphere was disappointingly not conducive to the sobriety he hoped to achieve.
“There’s a lot of factors behind that,” Woolsey said before the court. “I self-terminated. I wanted to get clean. [With] my experience of getting clean, I have to change my environment. Everyone in my room was using day and night, making it very hard to get clean. I wanted out of that environment.”
Defense attorney Palen was promptly given an opportunity to speak on behalf of his client.
“My client is concerned with the amount of time he has been in the system at this point,” Palen said. “Some of that is due to my client’s inability to comply. He just wants to make sure that everyone is on board and would allow him to complete any recommendations. If he were given a shot at treatment, he would receive another shot at probation. In my experience the process does not take very long. He could complete that and be ready to transfer. My client wants to get on with his case and get the chance to complete whatever treatment is necessary, ultimately getting back to Colorado as soon as possible. He is simply alleging the [previous] program was not ideal as we would’ve all liked it to have been.”
After hearing statements from both defense and prosecution, Judge Buchanan spoke in the direction of the defendant one last time before the court reached an amicable decision in the case.
“Here we are once again at a decision point, Mr. Woolsey,” Buchanan said. “If you are in the process of referral and are accepted to some type of treatment program, the court is inclined to fashion this position allowing you to do that. This would likely be the last chance to complete probation. So, I think that’s going to be my suggestion instead of trying to figure out what to do with your underlying sentence. Some type of treatment assessment and placement is rather imminent, so it could be a few weeks. You must complete whatever you need to complete. If you fail, you will be brought back again. This makes sense to me, but I’m not saying that’s the best way to do it. It wouldn’t be a bond situation, and you would be kept in jail until we get a reset. You’re going to be incarcerated regardless. So that’s what we will do.”
The court stood in recess at precisely 11:37 a.m.
