Punch That Killed Sheridan Hockey Coach Not Self-Defense, Prosecutor says

Sheridan County’s top prosecutor rebutted a manslaughter suspect's self-defense claims in a Monday filing, saying the man cherry-picked evidence to argue his defense.

Cody McCalla, 34, faces one count of involuntary manslaughter in the July 12 death of Patrick Mudd, 48. Court documents say Mudd, a local hockey coach and mentor, died one day after McCalla punched him outside a rodeo where they’d argued over a parking spot.

McCalla waged a self-defense argument and asked Sheridan County District Court Judge Benjamin Kirven to dismiss the case in a Nov. 6 filing, via his attorney Ryan Wright.

The argument drew from the eyewitness account of McCalla’s friend, whom McCalla had driven to the rodeo. The friend said McCalla punched Mudd after Mudd attacked him relentlessly.

Sheridan County Attorney Dianna Bennett called McCalla’s characterization of the fight incomplete in a Monday filing objecting to the self-defense claim.

“The state overwhelmingly disagrees with these ‘Facts,’” wrote Bennett in the filing. “The defendant ignores multiple statements from the body camera footage … such as one witness saying that Mr. Mudd said to the defendant, ‘Just leave me the f*** alone, get the f*** away from me, just back away.’”

Mudd kept trying to back away while McCalla “got in his face,” and McCalla never said at the time he was acting in self-defense, Bennett related from the witness statement.

‘Caught Trying To Leave’

Also in the evidence pool is a sign that McCalla tried to leave the scene but came back when he realized people had identified him, Bennett argued.

“In his pleading, the defendant asserts that (he) and his friend left the scene but came back to help,” wrote Bennett. “He does not mention that he and his friend left the scene and another witness essentially chased them down and took very short videos of them and their license plate number.”

McCalla saw the female witness taking videos of the license plate number and demanded she delete those, Bennett added.

OK Then Let’s Go

McCalla has asked for a John’s hearing, which is a pre-trial hearing where a defendant can ask a judge to dismiss his case early on self-defense grounds. It stems from a state law saying people who acted in self-defense “shall not” be prosecuted.

At the hearing, McCalla will need to prove at first glance that he acted in self-defense.

Then Bennett will have a chance to rebut and prove that the preponderance of the evidence shows, rather, that he didn’t act in self-defense.

If McCalla makes his point and Bennett fails to make hers, the judge will dismiss the case.

Like McCalla, Bennett asked the court to set a John’s hearing, and give the parties time to subpoena witnesses.

‘Knuckles Hitting’

The charging affidavit says that the men had a dispute over a parking space July 12, in a lot near a rodeo in Sheridan. Witnesses said they heard Mudd tell McCalla to leave him alone, and they heard the sound of “knuckles hitting” something before watching Mudd fall to the ground, says the document. 

Mudd’s girlfriend made a public statement after the fatality, saying McCalla was drunk and “sucker-punched” Mudd. 

Wright’s self-defense motion, conversely, says Mudd started the fight and punched McCalla repeatedly, even when McCalla was on the ground.

Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.