On February 3rd the Wyoming Supreme Court affirmed a 10 year prison sentence for a Mills man convicted of third degree sexual assault.

A four day trail for Samuel Martin Nania began on July 31st, 2023. He was originally charged with first, second, and third degree sexual assault, but found not guilty of the first two charges.

The jury found Nania guilty of the third and imposed a six to ten year prison sentence with credit for one day served.

Nania appealed in a timely manner, saying the District Court made a mistake in not accepting a polygraph, also known as a lie detector test, in its final decision, but the Wyoming Supreme Court upheld the sentence.

Court records show that the case goes back to the night of January 27, 2022, when Nania went to the Hideaway bar in Mills to meet with two of his ex-girlfriends.

After he left the bar, he began sending text messages to the women about wanting to harm himself.

Concerned, the exes went to Nania's residence to check on him. When they got there, he was asleep, so they woke him up.

Nania was allegedly angry they were there, but because he continued to threats of self-harm, the women stayed.

Around midnight, one of the women left. The other told Nania they should go to bed. Sometime later they were both laying in bed when he asked for a kiss and to snuggle. She reportedly said no.

Court records allege she was awoken by Nania “grabb[ing] [her] arm and pull[ing] [her] across the bed[.]”

She screamed for him to stop, but instead of stopping, he allegedly grabbed her by the wrists, held her wrists underneath her, and proceeded to sexually assault her.

At a later date, Nania would tell an employee who confronted him about the incident that he was "mad" so he stuck his penis in the victim, but she screamed, and he "snapped out of it."

Nania also said he "wanted [the victim] to feel the same pain that [he] had felt during [their] relationship."

After the victim left Nania's residence that night, he sent her several text messages, including one that reads: I started to rape you. Out of anger."

Before trial the defense asked the court to consider a polygraph examination in which Nania reportedly 'passed' denying the specific charges against him, but the district court denied the motion to accept it as evidence in this case.

Rarely are polygraph examinations admissible as evidence in court. Per the Wyoming Supreme Court, the reluctance to admit the results of lie detector tests come from the fact that the results have not been established as reliable.

"Given the magnitude of the evidence against Mr. Nania, there is no reasonable probability the verdict would have been more favorable had the evidence he 'passed' a polygraph examination been admitted" ruled the Supreme Court.

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