A Republican state representative from Casper wants to keep people from being charged with drunk driving if they're drunk while riding a horse, mule or donkey.
That’s the indication of a proposed bill unveiled Thursday on the Wyoming Legislature’s website by primary sponsor Rep. Julie Jarvis.
Mike Vang, a Laramie-based defense attorney who specializes in DUI cases, said he found the maneuver interesting and funny.
Johnson County’s top prosecutor said he was curious to know what prompted the legislation, since neither he nor the two deputy attorneys then standing in his office — with nearly 50 years’ experience between them — had never charged anyone for drunkenly riding a horse.
Jarvis did not respond by publication to a voicemail request for comment and context.
If the Legislature passes the bill, it would become law July 1.
It would specify that the state’s DUI statutes use that law section’s definition of “vehicle,” but with the caveat that “'vehicle’ does not include horses, mules or other equines when ridden by a person.”
Technically, equines include zebras too, but those aren't common ranch stock in the Cowboy State.
Don’t Ride Your Horse To The Bar
“I find it quite humorous,” said Vang.
He noted that the concept of “implied consent” — that law enforcement officers can pull a suspect’s biological matter upon probable cause of intoxicated driving — only applies when a person is control of a motor vehicle; and the motor vehicle is on a public street or highway.
The chemical test results pulled from that matter are “always the most prejudicial evidence” in DUI cases, said Vang, meaning that’s the evidence most likely to hurt the defendant’s case.
But even if riding a horse to and from a bar looks like an alternative under this bill, if it passes, Vang urged caution.
Firstly, he said with a laugh, don’t ride the horse into the bar: “You’ll get a trespass.”
Secondly, the allegedly drunk horse-back cowboy may face public intoxication ordinances, reckless endangering or other charges, said Vang.
“Don’t bring your horse drunk to the bar. It’s not a good idea,” he added.
They’re Doing What?
Johnson County Attorney Tucker Ruby voiced surprise at the bill, and said it sounds like a specific case prompted it.
“I don’t understand the utility of putting that in the statute unless there’s a specific case that was so egregious it needs to be mentioned,” said Ruby. “(My deputies and I) have never heard of a case, and have never done it ourselves.”
Ruby said he believes Wyoming’s law books need to be “cleaned up,” not amplified with more laws.
He also touted the value of locally-elected prosecutors using their own discretion in unique cases.
“I know most of the prosecutors in the state,” he said. “I know most of the elected officials that run these offices and I trust them to make an informed, good decision that’s appropriate in the circumstances — and I don’t think that change is necessary.”
Fremont County Attorney Micah Wyatt echoed that in part, saying that, “Legislators are, of course within their rights to address statutorily any issue they see as important enough to spend legislative time on.”
But, he added, prosecutors in his office would consider it a stretch to charge someone for DUI by horse.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
