Shurtleff prosecutor working with feds to get withheld evidence

Shurtleff prosecutor working with feds to get withheld evidence

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SALT LAKE CITY — State prosecutors in the case against former Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff want to put off a hearing next week to resolve a dispute with the Department of Justice over evidence they believe is being withheld.

Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings said in court documents Wednesday that he is working with the DOJ and the FBI to produce some of the documents he has requested. He said the parties are "cooperating in working toward a resolution of at least some of their differences."

Rawlings wants a 3rd District judge to delay a Dec. 1 hearing on his motion to force the DOJ to turn over all the evidence it gathered in its abandoned investigation of Shurtleff and his successor John Swallow. Federal authorities have said they already provided everything they deemed relevant.

Meantime, Swallow's new attorney, Scott Williams, informed the judge in a letter that he wants the same evidence. He asked the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office, which is prosecuting Swallow, to pursue the evidence as Rawlings has. Williams also says if the district attorney's office doesn't file a motion for the material, he will.

Rawlings said he's also working to unseal a September 2013 court order that he says is critical for the judge to consider before making a decision on his motion. He said he wants to push the hearing to January, because his office and Shurtleff will need time to evaluate the information.

The DOJ's Public Integrity Section declined to prosecute Shurtleff and Swallow two years ago after conducting its own investigation. Still, several local FBI agents stayed on the case, working with state and county investigators.

Rawlings has complained in court documents that the DOJ has built fences around the evidence with gates that only it can unlock. Shurtleff's attorney, Richard Van Wagoner, joined Rawlings' motion to compel the federal government to provide all the information it has.

Swallow and Shurtleff both face multiple public corruption charges associated with the attorney general's office. Both have pleaded not guilty.

Swallow hired Williams about two weeks ago after not being able to resolve an undisclosed conflict with his previous lawyer.

"His defense will require a great deal of time and resources, and I will endeavor to build a new defense team and apply our efforts diligently to the task," he wrote in the letter.

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Dennis Romboy

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