GREEN RIVER — A 27-year-old Rock Springs man has changed his plea from not guilty to no contest in and pleaded down to aggravated assault and battery in a stabbing incident that occurred earlier this year.
Alexander Vincent Ray Cave was originally charged with attempted second-degree murder stemming from an altercation with Rafael Magana on the evening of January 29, 2020.
During an evidentiary hearing last week, Magana testified that he was asked to pick up Cave that night by Kori Pacheco and Hope Bauer. He said the women told him Cave needed a ride home, so Magana went to pick him up.
When he reached Cave’s location in the 900 block of Walnut Street in Rock Springs, Cave was not acting like himself, Magana testified. He said Cave became agitated when Magana asked him to repay more he lent Cave earlier that month.
Magana said that he noticed Cave raising his arms as if to strike him, and Magana back-handed him in the face in self-defense. The two men tussled in the vehicle and Magana said he experienced a pain “that felt like a taser” in his side.
The two men fell out of the vehicle and wrestled on the ground before Cave stood up and ran off. Magana took himself to the hospital where he underwent emergency surgery for his wounds.
Plea Agreement
Aggravated assault and battery carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison, a $10,000 fine or both. In exchange for entering the no contest plea, County Attorney Dan Erramouspe recommended a suspended sentence of 6-10 years in the state penitentiary in favor of a split sentence.
The split sentence would include eight months in prison which Cave has already served, and financial restitution that will be determined at another hearing. Cave’s bond was also reduced from $250,000 to $10,000. He will also be placed on five years of supervised which could be reduced to three provided to he meets all the terms of that probation.
Sentencing in the case will take place at another date following the conclusion of a pre-sentence investigation later this month.
