Jury clears Outlaw

By Cameron Mathews

rep9@wyomingnews.com

CHEYENNE - On the final day of the trial on the civil lawsuit filed by Jack Sells against HEJE Inc., the jury verdict was unanimous.

After spending just under two hours deliberating, the 12 members decided that the Outlaw Saloon, which operated under HEJE, was not responsible for the death of Dwayne Sells.

According to police records, a disturbance took place just after 1 a.m. on April 23, 2005 that left Sells in a 10-day coma before he was pronounced dead.

A medical examiner testified at coroner's inquest that Sells died as a result of fall he took while being escorted form the bar. That inquest ruled the death an accident.

"This has been a tragic event for the Sells family and others," said HEJE's attorney Deborah Mincer following the verdict. "The jury verdict is based on evidence, and I'm glad the case is concluded."

Jack Sells, along with his lawyer, John Vincent, exited the courtroom and made no comments once the verdict was read.

Donald Nath, an off-duty doorman for the club at the time, was the one escorting Sells out of the saloon when the incident occurred.

"He hit his head on the tile so hard it would be like someone hitting the tile with a hammer," he said in past testimony.

Jack Sells sued the club for wrongful death and negligence last year, claiming its staff knew there was a disturbance but that its was negligent when it came to failing to stop the scuffle.

He argued the death of his son was the result of a fight and a fall at the saloon.

According to the Web site justiceforsells.com, Dwayne Sells was a longtime Cheyenne resident who was a Gulf War veteran and an employee at Quark Industries.

He was involved in a number of activities related to motorcycling, including serving as the local president of American Bikers Aimed Toward Education, or ABATE, at the time of his death.

Both Mincer and Vincent each gave 40-minute closing arguments before the case was handed over to the jury.

Mincer said Sells was the one responsible for starting the problem in the bar that night.

But Vincent said Sells was "bumped into" two times before he asked for an apology and got punched.

"If Sells didn't throw the first punch, we wouldn't have this case," Mincer said. "His decisions are significant factors as to why we are here."

All 12 jurors determined that there was sufficient evidence that the disturbance did attract or should have attracted the attention of the saloon's staff.

But the jury then determined that the Sellses weren't able to prove that a sufficient amount of time had elapsed between the start of the scuffle to allow the saloon the chance to avert the impending danger, court documents show.