A Mills woman who intentionally hit her husband with a car last summer received a suspended sentence on Tuesday after the victim made a tearful plea to keep his wife out of prison.
Vanessa Lynn Buck faces three years of supervised probation, with the possibility of a four- to six-year prison sentence at the Wyoming Women’s Center in Lusk if she fails to meet the judge’s demands.
Her husband, Charles Buck, broke down in tears while taking the blame for the incident. He said he had made crude jokes that drove his wife to anger, triggering post-traumatic stress disorder from violent experiences in her past. He didn’t realize she was triggered, he recalled, and kept pressing her.
Assistant District Attorney Mike Schafer had pressed for prison time given Vanessa Lynn Buck’s history with the law, including battery charges in 2004, 2006 and 2009. Schafer said Buck’s husband had made a similar case to the district attorneys in his wife’s favor, but the intentional violence of the crime was concerning, he said.
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“He still is a victim,” Schafer said. “He just does not feel victimized.”
Buck also cried during her comments ahead of the judge’s decision. The couple had been homeless at the time and living in their car. Both the Bucks were under stress, she said.
“I broke,” she said.
Natrona County Judge Catherine E. Wilking crafted her own sentence, noting her belief that both the Bucks were minimizing a serious incident.
“Everyone is quite lucky that Mr. Buck is not dead,” she said.
It was his plea for his wife that kept her out of prison, Wilking said, adding that this was the last chance for Buck to avoid that fate.
During her years ahead of supervised probation, Wilking informed Buck she must hold employment or go to school, complete anger management counseling and mental health counseling, and pay a number of fees including $500 to the Office of the Public Defender for their legal services.