Felony Defense Attorney Cheyenne, WY

A felony conviction in Wyoming can cost you more than a year in a state correctional facility, and for many charges, the ceiling sits far higher than that. Wyoming doesn’t sort felonies into tidy classes the way a lot of states do, so what you’re actually facing depends on the exact charge the Laramie County District Attorney files. Just Criminal Law defends people charged with felonies in Cheyenne and throughout Laramie County. Our founding attorney, Christina L. Williams, spent years as a prosecutor before she began defending people against the State, and that background shapes everything we do when reading a felony case.

How Wyoming Defines a Felony (and Why There Are No “Felony Classes”)

Wyoming draws the line between misdemeanor and felony by one thing: potential prison time. If a crime can send you to a state correctional facility for more than one year, it’s a felony. A year or less, and it’s a misdemeanor. That rule comes from W.S. 6-10-101.

Most states bundle felonies into Class A, B, and C and attach a fixed penalty range to each bucket. Wyoming doesn’t work that way. The legislature writes the maximum, and sometimes a minimum, into each individual statute. Aggravated assault and battery carries up to 10 years under W.S. 6-2-502. Theft of property worth $1,000 or more carries a maximum sentence of 10 years and a $10,000 fine. First-degree sexual assault runs 5 to 50 years. When a statute is silent on the fine, the court may still impose a fine of up to $10,000 under W.S. 6-10-102.

This crime-by-crime structure cuts both ways. There’s no shortcut to knowing your exposure, because the answer lives in the specific statute. It also means the wording of the charge and the facts behind it matter more here than in a state with fixed classes. That’s where a real defense gets built. Wyoming also enhances sentences for people with prior felonies: a third felony conviction can trigger a sentence of 10 years to life under the habitual criminal statute, W.S. 6-10-201.

What Happens After a Felony Arrest in Laramie County

Felony cases in Cheyenne begin in the Laramie County Circuit Court and, if they proceed, are tried in the First Judicial District Court. The path runs roughly like this. After an arrest, you have an initial appearance where the judge sets bond. Then comes the preliminary hearing in circuit court, where the State has to show probable cause to believe you committed a felony. If the judge finds it, the case is bound over to the First Judicial District Court, and you’re arraigned there. Your arraignment is the hearing where you enter a plea. From that point, the case moves through discovery, pretrial motions, and either a negotiated resolution or a jury trial.

The preliminary hearing matters more than most people expect. It’s the one early point where a judge considers whether the State has enough to proceed, and a case that looks airtight on the arrest report sometimes isn’t once the evidence is actually laid out. It isn’t a trial, and the State doesn’t have to prove you guilty there. But it’s a genuine chance to test the case before it lands in district court.

Bond, Pretrial Release, and the Clock You’re On

Bond conditions after a felony arrest can include no-contact orders, travel restrictions, and regular check-ins. Wyoming is one of only two states with no statute of limitations on crimes, so the State is never in a hurry. You shouldn’t match that pace. Dashcam footage gets overwritten, witnesses forget details, and phone records get harder to pull. The early weeks are when a defense is easiest to preserve, which is the practical reason to get a lawyer involved before the first court date, not after.

How a Former Prosecutor Reads the State’s Case

Christina Williams spent years deciding what to charge and how to prove it. We use that same lens in reverse. We read the file the way the prosecution does and look for where the probable cause is thin, which witnesses won’t hold up under cross-examination, whether the search that produced the evidence was lawful, and whether the charge was overfiled to create leverage for a plea. Prosecutors stack charges all the time. Knowing why they do it is half the battle in knowing how to take it apart.

We won’t promise a dismissal or an acquittal, because no honest lawyer can. What we will do is make the State prove every element of the charge and make sure no one talks you into a plea that’s worse than what the evidence actually supports.

Why Clients in Cheyenne Choose Just Criminal Law

• Former prosecutor perspective: Christina L. Williams charged and tried cases for the State before founding the firm.
• Built for Wyoming courts: We practice across Wyoming and South Dakota and know how Laramie County moves felony cases through the First Judicial District.
• 25+ years, 10,000+ cases: Our team has handled more than 10,000 criminal matters since 2009.
• Straight answers: You’ll hear what the evidence says, not a pitch.