Cheyenne Judge Declines To Hold Laramie County Sheriff In Contempt

Laramie County District Court Judge Robin Cooley on Monday declined to hold Sheriff Brian Kozak in contempt of court over a missed deadline to release records related to an immigration case.

The request to hold Kozak in contempt came from attorney Drake Hill, who represents Lichter Immigration and investigator Kevin Lewis. Cooley ruled that Hill did not provide clear and convincing evidence that the county intentionally failed to meet the court's orders. The county was two days late in producing documents set for release by Aug. 5. Hill reported that some files were unreadable, others were withheld without a proper inventory, and that communications with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were missing.

Cooley wrote in her Monday order that the county defendants had agreed to the original deadline. She wrote, "Finally, the fact that defendants' noncompliance was not willful does not make it acceptable." Cooley added that the failure to provide a privilege log and to address an Aug. 24 letter prolonged a dispute that should have been resolved without further court proceedings.

Cooley ordered the county to comply with four items within 10 days. The county must provide Hill with a privilege log explaining why documents are excluded from the exchange. It must also provide readable versions of documents previously transferred as unreadable or obtain a sworn statement from an IT authority explaining why they cannot be made readable. The county must also address any allegedly missing records in a letter to Hill and notify the court of its compliance.

Kozak told the Gazette on Tuesday that he expects County Attorney Mark Voss to hand over the remaining documents and resolve the technical issues within the deadline. Kozak said he is glad the judge noted there is no contempt finding. He also said comments on social media criticizing Cooley were unfair because she correctly and fairly looked at all arguments on both sides.

The case concerns the arrest of Mario Fabian Valenzuela Robles. A federal order states he was detained starting about April 23 through at least May 27 after a Cheyenne police officer stopped his truck because the taillights were dark and the windows were tinted. The order states that ICE agents arrived while Valenzuela Robles was providing his identification to the officer. It also states that he was given a choice between paying $2,600 to return to Mexico or facing ICE detention, and he chose detention.

At an Oct. 16 hearing, Voss told Cooley that the document search was a huge and messy task because county systems are not isolated by department. He said the first search yielded about 7,700 documents and unearthed unrelated and privileged material. Voss also noted that Wyoming law applies much narrower grounds for releasing body camera video than other documents, and that records staff must scrub video for driver's license numbers, Social Security numbers, and mental-health diagnoses.

Hill told Cooley that he believed the delays were intentional. He said the earliest report about Valenzuela Robles' arrest was a "complete fabrication" and that the body camera video his team obtained does not match the deputy reports. Hill also asserted that deputies did not have probable cause for the initial stop. Voss countered that a deputy had conflated the traffic stop with a later one, but that the error was corrected.

Cooley told the court that the standard for the hearing was whether there was a clear order, the defendants knew of it, they did not comply with the deadline, and their failure to comply was willful or intentional. She wrote that the court expects full compliance with the order compelling the documents and the current order to prevent a recurrence. Cooley noted that the court will set the matter for further proceedings if the county fails to comply, which could include contempt or sanctions.

Kozak said the sheriff's records department has received 4,706 requests for records so far this year, double the amount placed in 2023.