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Man charged in deadly hit and run pleads no contest
By TONY RAAP, News-Record Writer traap@gillettenewsrecord.net
A man charged with killing a Wright woman in a hit-and-run crash pleaded no contest Monday to aggravated vehicular homicide.Prosecutors say Raymond Potts, 46, ran over Raylene Fischer in May 2008 on Highway 387. Investigators believe Fischer, 46, had been walking home from Hank’s Lounge in Wright.
When a defendant enters a plea of no contest, it means he is not admitting guilt but is stating he will offer no defense. It is treated the same as a guilty plea.
The principal difference is that the defendant retains the option of denying the same charge in another legal proceeding. In September, Fischer’s parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Potts, seeking an unspecified amount in damages.
Potts pleaded no contest as part of a deal with prosecutors. Under the terms of the plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend a suspended prison term of four to 12 years in favor of a lesser sentence at the county jail, a halfway house or supervised probation.
But District Judge Michael “Nick” Deegan isn’t bound by that agreement. Prosecutor Bill Edelman said the deal was reached with the consent of Fischer’s family.
During Monday’s court appearance, Potts sat at the defense table next to his attorney, Nick Carter. He spoke only to answer a series of procedural questions from the judge.
Potts was arrested several hours after the crash at a nearby RV park. He told officers he had been drinking at Hank’s Lounge and remembered hitting something on the drive home but thought it was an antelope, according to court documents.
Investigators found a broken mirror at the crash scene with the word “Jeep” printed on it. Potts’ Jeep was badly damaged and his passenger-side mirror was missing.
Several hours after the crash, Potts’ blood-alcohol level was .12, well above the legal limit. But there was evidence that Potts may have continued drinking after the crash, making it difficult, “maybe even impossible,” to determine what his blood-alcohol level was at the time of the collision, Edelman said.
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