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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A federal judge has recused himself in response to accusations of bias from a county commissioner convicted of leading an ATV protest ride through ancient ruins.
U.S. District Court Judge Robert Shelby signed an order of recusal that was filed Friday, resolving the issue before another judge was due to rule on the matter.
In the documents, Shelby says he is recusing himself to avoid even the appearance of impropriety in the sentencing of San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman.
Lyman's attorneys argued last month that Shelby should be disqualified from the case because of his longtime friendship with Steve Bloch of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. The organization joined other groups in writing a letter seeking to influence Lyman's sentencing.
The U.S. Attorney's Office filed a motion in response, saying the allegations were unfounded. Bloch and the organization played no role in the decision to charge Lyman or in how the trial was conducted, prosecutors said. They say Bloch never personally contacted Shelby about Lyman's sentencing.
In May 2014, Lyman and about 50 others rode their ATVs on a trail off-limits to vehicles in a canyon that cuts through ruins that are nearly 2,000 years old and is home to dwellings, artifacts and burials left behind by Ancestral Puebloans hundreds of years ago, before they disappeared. There were no confrontations during the ride.
The protest was organized shortly after Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy had a standoff with the federal Bureau of Land Management over similar issues, illustrating the simmering tension between the federal government and residents in the West over land use.
In May, a jury found Lyman and blogger Monte Wells guilty of misdemeanor charges of illegal use of ATVs and conspiracy. Each carries a potential penalty of up to a year in jail and a fine of $100,000. Prosecutors have requested jail time for both, according to court documents filed Monday.
Lyman's attorneys filed a motion Tuesday requesting that the verdict be thrown out and a new trial granted. Attorneys Anneli Smith and Neil Kaplan argued that new evidence shows Lyman was on a right-of-way road that cannot legally be closed by the Bureau of Land Management.
Sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 15.
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