Tony Cercy Intends to Appeal Sentence to Wyoming Supreme Court

Former Casper businessman Tony Cercy intends to appeal the judgment and sentencing in his sexual assault case to the Wyoming Supreme Court, according to the notice of appeal filed Wednesday.

The filing through his attorneys apparently happened soon after Natrona County District Court Judge Daniel Forgey handed down a six- to eight-year prison term to Cercy for his conviction of third-degree sexual assault of a then 20-year-old woman at his former house at Alcova Lake in June 2017.

It is a "'premature notice of appeal'" that will not be forwarded to the Wyoming Supreme Court until the District Court enters its final written order about the sentencing, according to attorneys Ian Sandefer of Casper and Pamela Mackey and Sean Connelly of Denver.

The notice did not state the reasons for the appeal.

This marks the third appeal Cercy has made to the Wyoming Supreme Court in the case that began in the summer of 2017 after the victim reported the assault to the Natrona County Sheriff's Office.

Cercy was charged with one count each of first-, second- and third-degree sexual assault.

A jury in Natrona County District Court in February 2018 acquitted him of the first- and second-degree counts, but deadlocked on the third-degree count and Forgey declared a mistrial.

On March 8, then-District Attorney Mike Blonigen at the request of the victim announced he would retry Cercy on the third-degree count. Forgey would later change the venue to Hot Springs County.

Cercy appealed to Forgey to acquit him on the third-degree count, or if the case would be retried, to limit the jury to consider only evidence whether sexual contact was made between the alleged victim and his penis.

After Forgey denied that request, Cercy on March 30 appealed on the same grounds to the Wyoming Supreme Court with the State of Wyoming named as the respondent.

The Wyoming Supreme Court declined the request on April 30.

On Nov. 6, after another unsuccessful appeal to Forgey to dismiss the case, Cercy filed a petition with the Supreme Court to delay his trial set to start Friday, if not dismiss the case, on a sexual assault charge because it would violate his constitutional right to not be tried twice for the same crime.

The high court denied the petition a day later, which was two days before the second trial began in Hot Springs County Court House.

That trial resulted in Cercy's conviction of third-degree sexual assault on Nov. 21.