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SALT LAKE CITY — Lawyers in the criminal case against former Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff asked a judge Monday to postpone a hearing scheduled for next week.
Third District Judge Elizabeth Hruby-Mills also wrote in a court document that she expects Shurtleff and former Utah Attorney General John Swallow to attend all future court hearings unless she excuses them beforehand. The two made initial appearances in July but have not attended subsequent hearings.
In a joint motion, Shurteff's attorney Richard Van Wagoner and Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings requested the Dec. 12 hearing be moved to late January. Both asked for more time to work through issues raised in the case.
"The parties have been working through the pending issues to attempt to resolve them short of court involvement and have made significant progress," the motion states.
Shurtleff has asked the court for a "bill of particulars" that specifically outlines the charges against him and to dismiss the case.
Rawlings intends to amend the charges to describe the elements of each count and lay out the facts that support the allegations, the motion says. Shurtleff faces nine felonies including bribery, illegally accepting gifts, improper use of employee position and obstructing justice. Hruby-Mills last month dismissed a racketeering charge at prosecutors' request.
Meantime, Hruby-Mills declined to remove the term "co-defendant" from the charges against Shurtleff. Prosecutors identified Shurtleff and former Attorney General John Swallow as co-defendants in the case. The judge said the link would stay in place until the state amends the charges.
The state last month filed amended charges against Swallow without the co-defendant designation.
Swallow is charged with two misdemeanors and 12 felonies, including racketeering, bribery, accepting gifts and falsifying government records.
