News story - Nov. 21, 2001
Hammers admits to vehicular homicide
Dubois man at mercy of court in the death of cyclist Pool.
Until April 15, 2001 Clinton Hammers was an
ordinary man, working hard in the oil fields of Western Wyoming. At
23-years-old, he was a big brother, a son and a friend, his supporters say.
But on April 15, Easter Sunday, Clinton Hammers was branded as the man that
took the life of 33-year-old bicyclist Jeff Pool. Hammer's story is the
quintessential tragedy of drinking and driving, the story of how one bad
decision can result in the death of an innocent bystander. It is the story
of how a misstep can leave one facing up to 20 years in the state
penitentiary. Hammers, who pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated
vehicular homicide and one count of hit and run Monday, confessed to making
that one bad decision only a week before his scheduled trial. Pool's widow,
Lee Killian, and Hammers' mother, father and sister, were in court to watch
the 23-year-old Dubois resident plead guilty and recount the events that
preceded the tragedy last spring. Hammers, wearing a black suit and tie,
began to sob as Ninth District Court Judge Terry Rogers read the charges. In
a short breath, Hammers squeezed out his plea, "Guilty."
Hammers' lawyer, John LaBuda, and Teton
County and Prosecuting Attorney Steve Weichman examined and cross-examined
Hammers to determine there was a substantial basis for his plea. Under the
lawyers' questioning, Hammers admitted that he drank whiskey, vodka and beer
at the Caza Drilling employee headquarters in Marbleton, before embarking on
a trip to Dubois with his co-worker, Wyatt Ditterline. He said he did not
drink anything while on the road. Hammers also testified that the two men
stopped at a liquor store south of Jackson to purchase whiskey to replace
whiskey they drank in Marbleton. That whiskey bottle was thrown out of the
window of Ditterline's truck after Pool was struck. Hammers said he was
"scared and didn't know what to do," when he struck Pool who was riding on
the shoulder of the road near Jackson Hole Airport. The men drove from the
scene and stopped near Moran Junction.
The legal limit in Wyoming is .10. Rogers asked Hammers if he was sure that
drinking alcohol "rendered [him] incapable of safely driving [his] vehicle."
Hammers said he was sure. Weichman asked Hammers, who sat in the witness
stand with his head in his hands, what the young man would tell people in
Teton County who drink and drive. "Don't do it," Hammers said between sobs.
"It's not worth it."
LaBuda asked that Hammers be remanded to the
custody of Teton County Jail while awaiting sentencing. He was led to jail
after the hearing. Parole officers will conduct a pre-sentence investigation
and Hammers will likely be sentenced after December holidays, Rogers said.
The trial, scheduled to start Monday, was supposed to call on expert
witnesses from around country and was to employ a state-of-the-art
crime-scene reconstruction. Instead of facing the trial, however, Hammers
decided to put himself in the hands of the court without a plea agreement.
