A Wapiti man’s attempt to obtain $6,000 from his former partner, state Rep. Nina Webber of Cody, has come to an end. In a ruling last week, an appellate judge confirmed that Rep. Webber does not need to repay her ex, Scott Weber, for an international plane ticket he purchased in her name last year.

Scott Weber contends that, while they were still together, Nina Webber agreed to accompany him on a safari to Zimbabwe and gave him the OK to buy the ticket. However, Nina Webber says she never agreed to go. She testified that she’d sworn to never return to the African country after an unsettling 2023 trip that included local men chanting “white witch” at her.

Circuit Court Judge Joey Darrah ultimately dismissed Scott Weber’s small claims suit in December, saying Nina Webber’s account rang true.

“If you go on a trip with someone that you’re not having fun with, and it’s awkward, … a reasonable person would have a tendency not to want to go on another trip with that person, let alone to the same location,” Darrah said.

The longtime couple broke up around June of 2025.

After Darrah ruled in Nina Webber’s favor late last year, Scott Weber appealed the decision to the Park County District Court.

He argued Darrah used the wrong legal standards in weighing the evidence and in granting a delay, misapplied the state’s laws related to contracts, and was inconsistent with the standards he applied to the evidence.

Scott Weber also noted compliments Darrah paid to Rep. Webber for her willingness to run for office and noted the judge’s decision to delay a hearing so the lawmaker could attend a meeting at the White House. Scott Weber argued those actions helped create “an appearance of partiality” that required either a reversal or new trial before a different judge.

However, District Judge Ben Kirven of Buffalo ruled on June 23 that Darrah had applied the correct standards, followed the law and didn’t impact Scott Weber’s rights by pushing back a court date.

“The outcome of the case is not a basis for complaint regarding the continuance,” Kirven wrote.

As for the assertion that Darrah was biased, the district judge said the allegations Scott Weber raised failed to show that Darrah favored Nina Webber.

“The Court [Darrah] indicated several times that this was a difficult decision and that it considered the evidence carefully,” Kirven wrote. “Isolated comments that may suggest support for [Nina Webber]’s career decisions fall far short of the evidence required to establish judicial misconduct or an unfair trial.”

In addition to describing the suit as a hard one to judge, Darrah had called it “as disputed a case as I’ve seen, technically — and I’ve seen a lot.” 

Scott Weber represented himself on appeal, with assistance from his trial counsel, Cody attorney David Hill. Nina Webber continued to be represented by attorney Rob DiLorenzo, a former Emblem resident who now lives in Virginia.