WINNEMUCCA - Zachary J. Formby, who was charged with four counts of domestic battery, was found guilty on three counts with the fourth count dismissed in Union Township Justice Court on Nov. 18. Senior Justice of the Peace Edward Dannan presided over the trial, Formby was represented by Attorney Robert Dolan and the State was represented by Deputy District Attorney Roger Whomes.
Amanda Formby, Formby's wife and the victim, was called to the witness stand. She began her testimony by telling the court that she did not want prosecution to go forward. Dannan declared her to be a hostile witness at that point.
Amanda Formby testified for more than two hours between two days of trial. Throughout her testimony, she told the court that her reports to law enforcement, friends, medical personnel at Humboldt General Hospital, the domestic violence advocate, her ex-husband and the justice court in application for a temporary protective order related to battery on her by Zach Formby were all lies.
The incidents of batteries that the court examined occurred between Dec. 7, 2010, and July 31. During that period of time, Amanda Formby was pregnant with Zach Formby's child. Their baby was born Sept. 29.
On Dec. 7, 2010, Amanda Formby sought medical care for an injured hand. Her medical records indicated that she had injured it while moving furniture. Amanda Formby had told her ex-husband that Zach had thrown a cell phone at her hand. She also testified that she told Detective James Loveless, lead investigator of her case, that Zach had thrown a cell phone at her hand.
On July 25, Amanda Formby sought medical care for a black eye and cut to it. She also had bruising to one of her legs. Amanda Formby reported to law enforcement that Formby and she had an argument and that he had thrown a key at her which hit her in the eye.
She also reported that Formby had grabbed her from behind and threw her to the floor. During her court testimony, Amanda Formby told the court that Formby had tossed the key to her and hit her in the eye accidentally. She also told the court that she threw herself down onto the floor.
During the period of Feb. 4 and July 31, Amanda Formby had reported that Formby had thrown her into the master bathroom door.
Evidence presented at trial included pictures of Amanda Formby's black eye (one of which she took with her own cell phone), pictures of bruises on her legs, pictures of interior structural damage to their apartment and pictures of her vehicle with a dent on it.
Amanda Formby had shown law enforcement officers the damage to her apartment caused by Formby. She had also shown the damage to her friend, Melissa House, attributing the damage to Formby's violence.
In her court testimony, Amanda Formby said her bruises were related to a medication, heparin, that she had to take during her pregnancy. She stated that during her pregnancy she had the tendency for her blood to clot too much.
The structural damage in her apartment was caused by her three children from her previous marriage who rough housed and threw things, according to Amanda Formby.
Zach Formby would later testify during his trial that Amanda Formby's car was purchased used and had a dent from the previous owner.
As to why Amanda Formby reported that her husband had battered her, she told the court multiple times that she lied to make him look bad. She also stated that when she got angry she wanted revenge. It was never revealed in testimony why she wanted him to look bad or the reason she sought revenge.
Dolan called three defense witnesses to the stand.
Maria Galarza, a receptionist at HGH who knows Amanda Formby, reported that Galarza's sister asked Amanda Formby about her eye injury and that she said she had tripped and fell and jammed her keys in her eye.
Yesenia Gomez, Formby's former wife, testified that Amanda Formby was not always a truthful person and that she was foolish enough to lie to the police.
Jeanine Garcia testified that Amanda Formby was not truthful and that she would change a story every other time that she talked with her.
Zach Formby took the stand in his own defense on Nov. 18. Throughout his testimony he told the court that he never battered or harmed his wife in any way. Formby also testified that his wife had not been truthful in other matters and that she was a vengeful person.
In closing arguments, Whomes stated, "This is a very uncomfortable case that involves a police officer. We have a young lady who gets scared enough to report to police. Her motive today is to protect herself."
Dolan stated in his closing arguments, "Sad though it may be, this involves a family that has issues. Amanda has had people come forward that she is not a truth teller." Dolan then argued that people have been lying since the beginning of time and the best way to hurt another person is by lying.
In the end, Dannan commented that the couple was at first happy but that Amanda had found that Zach wasn't what she thought he was. Dannan said that Amanda Formby had convinced deputies to begin an investigation. He stated that it was beyond a reasonable doubt that the incidents had occurred.
Dannan's final comments were, "She has lost friends by them saying things about her and it has harmed her standing in the community."
Dannan sentenced Formby to three terms of 90 days jail to run consecutively but suspended it in the event Formby chose to appeal his case. Dannan also ordered that Formby do six days in jail (two days per three convictions) and pay a $200 fine. For counts one and two, Formby was ordered to do one year of domestic violence counseling and for count three he was ordered to do a psychological evaluation and follow its recommendations. Dannan also ordered that 48 hours of community service per count be suspended to complete counseling. Formby's jail time was to be completed by March 1, 2012, in Lander County.
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