Correction: This story has been corrected to redact the victim's name.
The U.S. Attorney for Wyoming on Tuesday charged George Anthony Quiver Sr. with assault resulting in serious bodily injury, which is a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison and $250,000 in fines.
Quiver already has been serving time in the tribal jail on the Wind River Indian Reservation, for a misdemeanor conviction in Wind River Tribal Court stemming from the same beating.
Wind River Police Department officers responded Dec. 10 to a bloody scene at an Ethete building.
An officer who responded found a trail of blood leading up to a ramp and into the building, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in federal court.
Witnesses reportedly told police they'd seen Quiver attacking the woman.
The responding officer found the woman just inside the building entryway, the complaint says. She was incoherent from alcohol and her injuries, the document adds. Authorities took her to SageWest Health Care in Lander for emergency treatment.
The emergency department doctor told police that the victim's head was suffering internal bleeding, potentially due to a kicking or stomping action, the affidavit says.
An air service transported the victim to Billings, the complaint continues, where she underwent craniotomy surgery for severe traumatic brain injury. After that she required extended treatment due to problems with respiratory failure and intubation, says the complaint.
When interviewed, the woman told police she had no memory of the assault, though she recalled drinking alcohol that evening.
When police found Quiver at another Ethete location that evening they arrested him without incident. His clothing was stained with blood, the complaint says.
Not Double Jeopardy
Its not double jeopardy if the federal government charges a man again for a crime he's already been convicted of in tribal court, according to a representative of the U.S. Attorney for Wyoming. Federal prosecutors also can re-charge for crimes that resulted in convictions in state court.
Prosecutors look at such crimes on a case-by-case basis to decide whether they should be charged again, the representative said.
In Quiver's case, the Wyoming-based federal prosecutor's office determined the crime merits felony-level prosecution, said an office representative.
There's no requirement for judges to layer the sentences from the two different jurisdictions concurrently, that is simultaneously. But there are some sentencing guidelines directing judges to take prior sentences on the same crimes into account when sentencing defendants anew, a U.S. Attorney's office representative told Cowboy State Daily.
