Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — Former Utah Attorneys General Mark Shurtleff and John Swallow, Olympic gold medalist Ted Ligety and Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings will not be required to testify in the fraud trial currently underway against a failed Salt Lake businessman, a judge ruled Tuesday.
One by one, the parade of attorneys representing Shurtleff, Swallow and Ligety, as well as current and former attorney general staffers, introduced themselves to the judge, all objecting to subpoenas issued by Marc Sessions Jenson, who is charged with multiple counts of communications fraud, theft by deception and money laundering in a $3.5 billion plan to turn the former Elk Meadows ski area into a private resort.
His brother, Stephen R. Jenson, faces the same charges. Both men have pleaded not guilty.
Third District Judge Elizabeth Hruby-Mills let those objections to subpoenas from defense attorney Marcus Mumford stand Tuesday.
In court documents objecting to the subpoenas, Swallow and Shurtleff cited the pending criminal charges against them in the same court and refused to testify based on Fifth Amendment concerns.
The Utah Attorney General's Office initially filed the charges against the Jensons but removed itself from the case in 2013.
Hruby-Mills will decide in coming days whether a couple connected to the would-be Mount Holly Resort, who Mumford argues provided a connection to Swallow for disgruntled investors, will be compelled to provide documents in the case.
Related:
Shurtleff, Swallow refuse to testify in Mount Holly development fraud case
Two former Utah attorneys general and an Olympic gold medalist are refusing to testify in the trial of a Salt Lake businessman accused of fraud in a failed $3.5 billion luxury resort project.The judge's decision wrapped up before another day of testimony began in what was set to be a nine-day jury trial, but the slow-moving proceedings that began Jan. 14 are behind schedule. The defense has yet to lay out its opening arguments.
Prosecutors argue that the Jenson brothers deceived investors who bought into what was supposed to be an exclusive resort on 2,000 acres in the Tushar Mountains, including 1,200 building lots starting at $1 million each, a Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course and a ski area managed by Ligety.
The defense, however, says the Mount Holly project crumbled because a firm called XE Capital didn't meet its contractual obligation to provide $6 million to $7 million for the development.
Marc Jenson is also at the center of the criminal charges against Shurtleff and Swallow. He claims they shook him down for money and favors during a trip to the posh Southern California villa where he was living in 2009. He also accused Swallow of securing a "quid pro quo" agreement from him for a $1 million lot in the planned members-only Mount Holly Club. Swallow and Shurtleff have proclaimed their innocence.
Jenson is currently serving a 10-year prison sentence in an unrelated case.
