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SALT LAKE CITY — Former Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff joined a prosecution motion Monday to force the U.S. Department of Justice to turn over evidence gathered in an investigation of him and his successor.
Although the DOJ declined to file charges against Shurtleff, the government has information relating to key witnesses and allegations associated with the case, including evidence that could show he didn't do anything wrong, according to his attorney Richard Van Wagoner.
"Mr. Shurtleff should be entitled to receive any evidence that tends to show his innocence or undermines the credibility of the witnesses against him, even if the evidence is in the possession of the federal government," he wrote.
Van Wagoner also argues that Shurtleff can't get a fair trial without information necessary to his defense.
Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings, who is prosecuting Shurtleff, filed a motion last week to compel the DOJ to hand over evidence from its investigation into Shurtleff and former Attorney General John Swallow two years ago.
"It appears the DOJ has built fences, with little gates that only they can lock and unlock, around related persons, events and investigations (or possibly lack thereof)," Rawlings wrote. "They control what state prosecutors know and with respect to whom."
In the motion, Rawlings wrote if the DOJ wants to control prosecutorial discretion, it should take the Shurtleff case itself, "and in the process, look at everyone who has criminal exposure."
Van Wagoner suggested after a court hearing last week that the government is withholding the evidence because it could implicate other people.
The DOJ's Public Integrity Section declined to prosecute Shurtleff and Swallow in September 2013, but local FBI agents stayed on the case and with state and county investigators to bring criminal charges against the two Republicans in July 2014.
Van Wagoner wrote in the motion that there is reason to believe the government has documents, interviews and other evidence that show the misconduct of investigators and prosecutors in the early stages of this case.
- Accepting gifts (3 counts)
- Bribery to dismiss a criminal proceeding
- Obstruction of justice
- Obstructing justice
- Official misconduct
He intends to ask 3rd District Judge Elizabeth Hruby-Mills to dismiss the charges against Shurtleff, alleging state agents, who were not only a part of the prosecution team but also relied heavily on facts provided by the government, engaged in serious prosecutorial misconduct.
The charges against Shurtleff and Swallow stem from a nearly two-year investigation into relationships they had, including with indicted businessman Jeremy Johnson and imprisoned businessman Marc Sessions Jenson.
- Pattern of unlawful activity
- Accepting gifts
- Bribery
- Money laundering
Van Wagoner wrote that Shurtleff asked the FBI and Utah U.S. Attorney's Office to investigate his claim that Jenson and associate Paul Nelson unsuccessfully tried to bribe him in 2007 and 2008. Jenson's prosecution forms a key part of the state's case, he wrote.
Federal agencies also have a "wealth" of information on Johnson, who is at the center of charges against Shurtleff, according to Van Wagoner.
