A Wyoming judge on Thursday rejected a tourist’s claim that bear-spraying an unwelcome visitor to her Bridger Teton National Forest campsite was self-defense.
Shannon Dewitt’s aggravated assault case can go forward to trial, Judge Melissa Owens ruled after a two-hour self-defense hearing Thursday.
The hearing was a chance for Dewitt to show that when she bear-sprayed a Colorado woman on a two-track road near her campsite in the national park June 24, she was acting in self-defense. Dewitt testified that the Colorado woman had tried to veer her car toward both Dewitt and her husband, Ben Dewitt.
Teton County Special Prosecutor Damon DeBernardi, conversely, argued that Shannon Dewitt does not have a self-defense claim.
These arguments unfold over different evidentiary standards. Shannon Dewitt’s attorney Elisabeth Trefonas had to show “prima facie,” or at first glance, that Dewitt acted in self-defense. And DeBernardi then had a chance to discount her showing by proving it was more likely than not (preponderance of the evidence) that Dewitt did not act in self-defense.
Owens said DeBernardi met his burden, so she must allow the case to advance toward a trial or plea agreement.
Neither of these evidentiary standards equates to the one a jury will use if Dewitt’s case goes to trial: proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
A jury could still find that Dewitt acted in self-defense and acquit her.
Dovetails
Both Dewitt and her alleged victim testified Thursday via video link.
Dewitt said that she and her husband have been living in a fifth-wheel camper for a couple years as they tour national parks. She said she’s a mother and “retired military spouse,” and she said her 16-year-old son was with she and her husband during the June 24 incident.
They were driving to Jackson that day when they saw a woman, later identified as the Colorado woman, traipsing through their camp site on a home surveillance camera they’d installed. The Dewitts believed the woman was trying to get into their camper, according to court documents.
The woman has maintained throughout the investigation and court proceedings that she was searching for a custom-made cowboy hat that blew off her head during an earlier horseback ride.
Dewitt consistently referred to the camper as her “home,” which is an accurate reflection of Wyoming law: a camper can be a home for self-defense purposes.
The Dewitts drove back to their campsite to confront the Colorado woman.
Here Dewitt’s testimony dovetails with the alleged victim’s. Dewitt told DeBernardi that her husband parked alongside the road, while the Colorado woman said he parked across the two-track road in his truck, blocking her escape.
National Park Service Ranger Edward Foss told the court the scene evidence indicated a vehicle had stopped across the two-track road.
Ben Dewitt got out of the truck wearing a gun on his hip and approached the Colorado woman at her driver’s side window as she sat in her car, according to court testimony. He yelled at her, asking what she was doing in his camp.
She said she hadn’t been in his camp.
Glamping
The gun made for a frightening element, the Colorado woman testified.
Trefonas indicated that that could be a cultural difference for her, but a man wearing a gun doesn’t necessarily mean others harm. Trefonas also questioned the Colorado woman on whether she knew it’s discourteous to drive and wander through others’ campsites. The woman answered that she’s never been camping, except for one luxury glamping excursion.
DeBernardi countered this theme while questioning Dewitt. He asked the defendant to consider how she would have behaved if she were in the victim’s situation.
“If you were in your vehicle with your child and someone got out of their vehicle and started yelling – and had a gun on their hip would you be scared?” asked DeBernardi.
“Yes, sir,” Dewitt answered.
Bear Sprayed
During the confrontation, Ben Dewitt yelled profanity at the Colorado woman, and she tried to drive away.
Shannon Dewitt testified that she was afraid the Colorado woman was about to run her husband over, so she got out of her truck to get the woman’s license plate number – at which point the woman veered toward her also. Instinctively, she grabbed a bear spray cannister that happened to be in her pocket and sprayed, Shannon Dewitt said in court.
The Colorado woman gave a completely different account:
“I saw Mrs. Dewitt jump out … with her bear spray pointed at me and (she) sprayed me,” said the alleged victim. “She looked like she was waiting to ambush me with the bear spray.”
The Colorado woman said she was just trying to get away because she was afraid for her safety and her two young daughters’ safety, and didn’t veer toward either Dewitt.
“My kids were absolutely terrified, screaming ‘Mommy, get away, get away – why are they shooting us?’” she testified. At that point, Ben Dewitt had fired his pistol multiple times into the ground behind her vehicle. He also hit her vehicle with his hand as she veered off-road and drove away, she said.
At Gunpoint
Law enforcement personnel spoke with the Colorado woman, whose face was red and irritated from the bear spray, and converged on the fifth-wheel camper to arrest the Dewitts at gunpoint.
Foss said he found five shells of ammunition where the two-track-road incident had happened, along with tracks indicating someone took a hard right off-road onto the grass.
A Little Law
People in Wyoming have the right to stand their ground rather than retreat if they have to defend themselves in a place where they have a lawful right to be. This concept doesn’t apply for someone who was the initial aggressor.
DeBernardi argued that though the Dewitts had a lawful right to be on a two-track road in a national park, Ben Dewitt was the initial aggressor, not the Colorado woman.
“They put themselves in that situation,” said DeBernardi. “It’s not a situation where you can take advantage of the way the laws are written… (and) exercise self-defense where it’s not needed.”
The Dewitts weren’t in their camper when the woman wandered past it repeatedly, so they weren’t defending their home from within it, the prosecutor added.
Trefonas rebutted, saying the alleged victim started the series of events by wandering around the Dewitt’s camper multiple times.
The defender cast doubt upon the victim’s testimony that she didn’t veer toward Ben Dewitt.
“He’s close enough to hit the vehicle (as she drives away),” said Trefonas. “That’s pretty close.”
Ben Dewitt was also charged, and is scheduled for a self-defense hearing of his own next month.
Correction - an earlier version of this story said the campers were in the Grand Teton National Park.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
