A California man originally accused of attacking transients in Green River, Wyoming, with a machete was sentenced to three years of supervised probation Friday, after pleading guilty to aggravated assault and reckless endangering.
If Jacob Daneil Rial, 34 of Garberville, California, violates his probation, he could face a four-to seven-year prison term.
"I do certainly understand the reservations expressed in the (report on Rial's history)," said Sweetwater County District Court Judge Suzannah Robinson at Rial's sentencing hearing. "But there are some circumstances the court has taken into consideration."
Robinson said she was familiar with the facts of the case and believed in this instance, probation is appropriate.
Rial already has spent 136 days in jail.
This sentence follows a five-month prosecution. Rial was originally charged with four counts of aggravated assault, on claims that he slashed a machete at four transients taking refuge under a bridge in Green River this summer. A case affidavit says Rial slashed one of the men on the ear and another on his neck.
Police arrived to find the two men bloodied and Rial hiding behind a nearby hill, still clutching the machete, the affidavit says.
Rial, conversely, maintained during the case that he acted in self-defense.
He wrote to Sweetwater County District Court Judge Suzannah Robinson in September, saying that he was held at knifepoint under that bridge by a gang of five “trains-hoppers.” One of the transients threw him down the embankment to the river’s edge, Rial wrote. As he lay on the ground, the person started stomping on his legs while brandishing a knife, the defendant added.
“I then pulled a machette (sic) I had strapped to the side of my hiking pack and struck my attacker on the side of his head with the dull side, so as not to hurt him, cutting his ear.”
'Crushed By A Train'
Rial was passing through Wyoming on his way to Idaho during the incident, the man told the court Friday.
During his first arraignment he pleaded not guilty but accepted a plea agreement Dec. 4.
Victims are informed and “in agreement” with the plea, according to Sweetwater County Deputy Attorney Hillary McKinney. There were no victim impact statements.
Rial told Robinson he’s disabled and trying to get social security after being, “crushed by a train.”
Rial said he was “homeless and going to school.” and supporting himself with federal education grants in the recent past.
His conviction could threaten his ability to receive financial aid.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
