Utah

Utah AG Takes Stand re Unpaid $5.6M Judgment, Expresses Relief at Not Being Jailed

The top law enforcement official in Utah expressed relief Friday that a state court judge didn’t jail him for contempt months after a deadline expired for paying a $5.6 million court-ordered bill for services provided by a Salt Lake City accountant, lawyers and others responsible for liquidating a communal land…

Nov 2, 2012 9:41 PM CDT

Opinion Cites ‘Egregious Error’ by Judge Who Sent Woman to Jail for Recording Video in Court

A Utah judge has overturned a contempt citation for a woman sentenced to jail for recording court proceedings. Judge Claudia Laycock said the contempt order by Justice Court Judge Keith Stoney of Saratoga Springs violated the woman’s right to due process, the Deseret News reports. Stoney had sentenced Elaine Damron…

Aug 9, 2012 1:43 PM CDT

Prominent Utah Criminal Defense Attorney Says Man Who Stabbed Him at Home Was a Stranger

Stabbed by in his Salt Lake City home earlier this month, a prominent Utah criminal defense attorney told reporters in a Tuesday email that the intruder who attacked him was a total stranger to him. Steven B. Killpack, 63, escaped and sought help from neighbors. The alleged intruder, who has…

Jul 17, 2012 10:13 PM CDT

Judicial Proceedings Privilege Protects Law Firm that Helped Carry Out Unusual Discovery Order

The Utah Supreme court has ruled the judicial proceedings privilege protects a Utah law firm and its lawyers in a tort suit over the seizure of electronic devices from a litigant’s home. The suit targeted Utah law firm Parr Waddoups Brown Gee & Loveless for its role in executing civil…

Jul 10, 2012 3:24 PM CDT

Prominent Utah Attorney Is Stabbed; Steven Killpack, Former Public Defender, Stable After Surgery

A prominent Utah defense attorney was stabbed in the vicinity of his home on Thursday morning, which is not far from his law office. Steven B. Killpack, 63, survived, and authorities are hoping he will be able to tell them more about what happened. He walked about half a block,…

Jul 5, 2012 7:12 PM CDT

Mom Who Cut Teen Daughter’s Hair in Court Complains About Judge; Do ‘Shame’ Sentences Work?

A Utah mother who says she felt intimidated by a state-court judge into agreeing on the spot to cut her 13-year-old daughter’s hair in court during a May hearing says she has filed a legal ethics complaint against the judge. Although the complaint hasn’t officially been confirmed, Valerie Bruno says…

Jun 25, 2012 11:26 PM CDT

Feds Raid Utah Law Offices in Probe of Loan Modification Work

Multiple federal agencies including the FBI, IRS and the office of the inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program raided three offices affiliated with a Utah law firm Tuesday. The U.S. Attorney’s office in Utah confirmed the raid on the CC Brown Law Office in Midvale and West Valley…

Jun 12, 2012 11:28 PM CDT

Judge’s Ethics Appeal Blames High Warrant Amount on Misplaced Comma Rather than Retaliation

A Utah judge is appealing a reprimand issued in the belief that he entered a $10,000 cash-only warrant for a woman accused of a minor traffic violation because she was rude to his law clerks. Judge Keith Stoney of West Valley City Justice Court told the Utah Supreme Court the…

Jun 6, 2012 11:41 AM CDT

County Prosecutor Won’t Charge ‘Sister Wives’ Family

Corrected: Members of the family portrayed in the Sister Wives reality TV show won’t face prosecution in Utah County, Utah. In a motion to dismiss a challenge to the state’s bigamy law, Utah County Attorney Jeff Buhman said his office has adopted a policy that it won’t prosecute consenting adults…

Jun 1, 2012 11:33 AM CDT

Ark. AG Can’t Sue Law Firm Under Deceptive Trade Practices Statute, State’s Top Court Rules

Reversing a lower court ruling that imposed penalties on an out-of-state law firm for collecting fees on dishonored checks in excess of what is allowed under the Arkansas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, the state’s top court has ruled that its attorney general has no jurisdiction to pursue such a case…

Mar 28, 2012 5:31 PM CDT

Utah Attorney Is Disbarred for Using $122,500 Settlement Check for Law Firm Operating Expenses

Suspended in 1993 for misuse of a client trust account, Clayne Corey got no leniency from the Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday. Although a district court judge suggested a stayed suspension would be appropriate, because the attorney “did not intend to cause harm or injury” by depositing a $122,500 settlement…

Mar 27, 2012 10:39 PM CDT

Gulf War Hero, a Disbarred Lawyer, Is Accused of Participating in Claimed $54M Fraud on US Military

A former lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve who previously made a name for himself as a politician and New Hampshire lawyer, before being disbarred in 2006, is now gaining a high profile in a new arena. David Young, 49, a Green Beret and Gulf War hero, is accused by…

Mar 15, 2012 4:55 PM CDT

Atheists Group Gets $1, Lawyer $388K as Utah Mulls Roadside Cross Alternatives for Slain Officers

After news that Utah has settled for nearly $400,000 a suit over roadside crosses placed to commemorate troopers slain in the line of duty, lawmakers and others are considering alternatives. Only $1 of the settlement will go to American Atheists Inc. and the three members who filed the federal civil…

Feb 17, 2012 10:01 PM CST

Utah Officials OK Execution by Firing Squad

A death row inmate who wants to be executed by firing squad will get his wish, Utah officials say. Michael Archuleta, who is scheduled to be executed April 5 for the 1988 murder of a 28-year-old college student, has chosen a firing squad over lethal injection, KSL TV reports. And…

Feb 10, 2012 9:08 PM CST

‘Sister Wives’ Lawsuit Can Go Forward, Federal Judge Says

A federal lawsuit challenging Utah’s bigamy law, brought by the stars of the TLC show Sister Wives, can go forward, says a U.S. district court judge. The Utah action was filed by George Washington University Law School Jonathan Turley, on behalf of Kody Brown and his four wives. After their…

Feb 6, 2012 7:48 PM CST