The disciplinary files that University of Colorado Boulder may have kept about the alleged aggravated assault victim of one of Wyoming’s most outspoken transgender activists aren’t relevant for trial, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Rihanna Kelver, 28, was charged in September 2025 with aggravated assault, and possession of a deadly weapon with unlawful intent and interference.
Those are felonies punishable by 10 and five years in prison, plus fines. The case has since grown to include a charge that Kelver lied to police: Interference with a peace officer is punishable by up to one year in prison and up to $1,000 in fines.
Court documents and testimony by officers allege that Kelver strode toward a man named Scott Durham outside the Crowbar in Laramie. Durham shoved Kelver to the ground, then Kelver drew and pointed a pistol at Durham.
Pointing a gun, loaded or unloaded, at another human is aggravated assault in Wyoming.
When police recovered Kelver’s gun, it was loaded, according to officer testimony.
Kelver told police that Durham yelled anti-LGBTQ slurs just before the incident. Kelver also told police, initially, that the weapon was a knife and not a gun.
The defendant walked that claim back in an August court hearing, saying post-traumatic stress disorder contributed to the misstatement.
Self-Defense Rejected
Albany County District Court Judge Misha Westby ultimately rejected Kelver’s request to dismiss the case as an instance of self-defense. But, Westby noted, Kelver can still present that argument to a jury at trial.
Then Westby granted Kelver’s request to subpoena Durham’s University of Colorado Boulder file from Durham’s days as a student there.
In arguing to subpoena the file, Kelver’s attorney Andrew Holcomb cited news reports that an anti-fascist group had pegged Durham as a member of the Patriot Front, and that he’d had a disciplinary incident at college. Holcomb also found a police report “alluding to Durham’s history of racist, homophobic misconduct,” the attorney wrote in a motion.
Albany County Attorney Kurt Britzius objected to the subpoena, calling the mission a fishing expedition.
But Westby announced via court order that, in accordance with Holcomb’s request, she’d summon Durham’s file, and review it “in camera” –in her own chambers rather than open court – to see if it was fit evidence for trial.
"It isn’t, Westby ruled Tuesday.
“The Court finds that the material produced by the University of Boulder, pursuant to a subpoena… is not relevant or material to any element of the charges or any defense,” says Westby’s order. “Further, the Court finds that the information contained in the documents would not be admissible in the trial to support a theory of self-defense, to show bias or motive of the alleged victim, or to support the claim that the alleged victim was the initial aggressor.”
The documents lack a nexus to Kelver’s claim of self-defense, he judge added.
The documents are “not discoverable,” meaning they won’t be exchanged between the attorneys, and they won’t become part of the public file, Westby wrote.
The Protest
Kelver made headlines in 2025 for staging a pro-transgender protest at the Wyoming Capitol soon after the Legislature passed a ban on people using public restrooms and changing facilities designated for the opposite sex.
Kelver, a trans woman, entered the women’s bathroom amid a public display.
The ban’s enforcement mechanism targets the public, and not the transgender bathroom user, however.
A female who encounters a male in a public women’s facility can sue the government entity that runs the facility. The law doesn’t specify consequences for a male who enters the women’s bathroom or changing room.
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
