When the hearing began at 9 a.m., John was not visible in the Laramie auditorium audience of about 70. And although both lawyers who argued the issue in Natrona County District Court before its dismissal were in attendance, appellate lawyers from the state attorney general’s office and the public defender’s office argued before the court’s five justices.

During the 70-minute hearing, which the court extended by 10 minutes from its typical hour-long setting, justices questioned Assistant Attorney General Sam Williams extensively regarding prosecution arguments that the court should not review any cases under the new law. The law, Williams argued, should be instead only understood as guidance to prosecutors.

The court focused much of its questioning on the leading portion of the prosecutors’ argument, which Williams stated would likely make more work for the courts. The supreme court will have no choice but to create more such work, Williams said, because the Legislature’s lack of specificity in the law’s language.

When Kautz asked Williams if he was familiar with similar interpretations elsewhere in Wyoming law, the Attorney General’s representative admitted he was not.

“The state wasn’t able to find any similar structure in our statutes,” Williams said.