Tryton Christopher Cox
A 19-year-old man was sentenced to 2-12 years on Monday after an attempt to withdraw his guilty pleas to assault with a deadly weapon and escape was denied.
Tryton Christopher Cox said it wasn’t until he read that he’d intended to run another vehicle containing his former girlfriend off the road that he decided he wanted to take back the plea agreement.
Claiming that it was an accident, Cox testified that he didn’t have sufficient time with attorney Matthew Ence before agreeing to admit to the charges.
Attorney Matthew James Stermitz put Cox on the stand Monday, asking how many times he’d met with Ence before agreeing to plead guilty.
Cox said he didn’t receive the 100 pages of discovery until after he’d entered his plea, testifying that the accusation that he intended to chase a car containing four people up Highway 395 and force them to stop on June 26 was false.
Prosecutor Bethany Towne argued that the issue Cox was disputing wasn’t an element of either crime.
In denying the motion to allow Cox to withdraw his plea, District Judge Tom Gregory said that he’d exhaustively canvassed him on his guilty plea before accepting it.
He pointed out that Cox actually signed the agreement two days before the sentencing, which undercut Cox’s contention he didn’t sign the agreement until he appeared in court.
Cox’s grandmother and a close friend testified on his behalf.
“He’s very caring,” his grandmother said. “He has already been there for me. I’ve never known him to get into trouble. He needs treatment not punishment.”
Three of the four occupants of the other vehicle took the stand, including Cox’s former girlfriend, who said he’d struck her after they were returning home from a party in Reno.
She said she called a person she met there, who came from Reno with two other friends to pick her up after Cox left their Gardnerville Ranchos home.
Towne said Cox followed the other vehicle in the victim’s vehicle, which he wasn’t supposed to be driving.
She traced the route of the pursuit from Centerville to Highway 88 where Cox rear-ended the other vehicle in the roundabout at County Road.
He managed to stop the other vehicle on Highway 395, where the occupants said he jumped on the hood and started to kick the windshield.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene and took Cox into custody and put him in the back of a patrol car. That’s where Cox slipped out of the handcuffs and ran back toward the other vehicle, prompting the escape charge. Cox had a .082 blood alcohol content at the time of his arrest. Cox received credit for 111 days time served.
Cox was also ordered to pay $5,055.06 in restitution for damage to the two vehicles.
