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CEDAR CITY, Utah (AP) -- City Manager Jim Allan has been convicted by a justice court jury of impersonating a peace officer.
Allan contended he did nothing wrong in flashing his city manager badge, a replica of the shield worn by Cedar City police officers, to pull over a commercial truck driver on Interstate 15.
The jury returned the guilty verdict Tuesday after 25 minutes deliberation.
Sentencing was scheduled tentatively for Dec. 1.
Defense attorney Willard Bishop said he does not know if an appeal will be filed.
On March 15, Allan flashed his badge at semitrailer-truck driver John Garrison, who then pulled his truck over.
Sheriff's officers said Allan thought the man was driving erratically. They said Allan attempted to get the driver's license and registration.
Allan maintains he was not attempting to impersonate a police officer, but did want to report the driver for bad driving.
Bishop said the case was about intent and Allan did not have the intent to represent himself as a peace officer in flashing the badge.
'Having (the badge), not a problem. Using it, not a problem -- as long as you don't intend to deceive someone," Bishop said. "He didn't do anything to deceive someone."
Chief Deputy Iron County Attorney Troy Little said, "The very moment you flash a badge like this, your intent is clear. You're holding yourself as an officer of the law."
Police Chief Bob Allinson, who gave the badge to Allan, testified that it was intended for identification purposes in the event of a city emergency. Like all such badges, it bears the word "police."
County Attorney Scott Garrett said this case was about protecting the integrity of the badge.
'Jim Allan is a good man, but he exercised poor judgment when he tried to pull someone over with the badge," Garrett said. "If someone flashes a badge, people need to know it's a law enforcement officer, not Joe Public. That's why we took this so seriously."
(Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
