Whitman posts bond, awaits arraignment

Cali O'Hare, managing editor
Posted 8/3/22

Despite the denial, Chett Logan Whitman made bond and was released from jail on July 21. His felony case is bound over to the 9th Judicial District Court. A date for his arraignment has not yet been set, according to Janet Montgomery, Sublette County Clerk of District Court.

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Whitman posts bond, awaits arraignment

Posted

SUBLETTE COUNTY — The Eden man charged with felony aggravated assault and battery resulting in serious bodily injury to a Boulder resident is free on bond and has waived his preliminary hearing scheduled for July 28. Chett Logan Whitman, 25, is accused of brutally beating Chris Meeks in the parking lot behind the Cowboy Bar in Pinedale on July 9. He was booked into the Sublette County Jail 10 days later on July 19 and appeared before Circuit Court Judge Curt Haws the following day.

Judge Haws denied a request by Whitman’s attorney Rives White to reduce his bond from $50,000 cash or surety to $10,000 cash or surety, voicing concern that the man is “a threat to the community.”

Despite the denial, Whitman made bond and was released from jail on July 21. His felony case is bound over to the 9th Judicial District Court. A date for his arraignment has not yet been set, according to Janet Montgomery, Sublette County Clerk of District Court.

According to an affidavit filed by Sublette County detective Sgt. Lance Gehlhausen, Deputy Josh Peterson found Meeks unconscious and “bleeding substantially from the head” behind the Cowboy Bar near midnight on July 9. Off-duty EMTs Danny Long and Shaundel Bennette were trying to stabilize Meeks’ injuries.

Pinedale Clinic attending physician Dr. Alice Jacobson told the deputy Meeks was “in critical condition,” had been intubated and airlifted to an out-of-state trauma facility.

At least two witnesses named in the affidavit told the deputy that Meeks never threw a punch, and that Whitman struck Meeks in the face at least three times, once while they were standing and twice after Meeks fell to the ground.

According to court records, including sworn testimony of medical providers, Meeks sustained “extensive facial fractures,” including broken “orbits, bilateral maxillary sinuses, nasal bones and right zygoma,” resulting in the “need to be intubated … and transported to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center via fixed-wing aircraft.”

Under Wyoming statute, aggravated assault and battery is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both.

Whitman could also be held financially responsible for any out-of-pocket expenses related to Meeks’ medical care, including the cost of the life flight and his upcoming surgeries.

A fundraising campaign for Meeks was set up online by family-friend Rachel Misiewicz at givesendgo.com to offset his medical expenses. As of Aug. 3, $2,120 was raised. Local contributions can also be made to the Chris Meeks Medical Fund at Glacier, First Bank of Wyoming in Pinedale.

Criminal charges are often dropped or reduced, and Whitman is considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.