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SALT LAKE CITY — An appeal is already in the works for a man whose trial continued even after he shot himself.
Mitchell Edward Wolf, 55, was on trial Wednesday and Thursday facing threats and stalking charges. The allegations stemmed from phone calls and emails from Wolf to his former common law wife and her coworkers in an attempt to regain some of his property, defense attorney Rudy Bautista said.
The couple lived together for 20 years, were considered married under common law and had a daughter, he said.
When the two ended their relationship, the woman apparently told Wolf she'd lost her job, leading him to agree not to ask for any equity in the split. When he later learned that the woman had not really lost her job, he began to contact her to ask for his share in the couple's belongings, according to his attorney.
When she failed to respond to his phone calls, Bautista said Wolf then placed various calls and wrote emails to the woman's coworkers. In many of these correspondences, he threatened to kill himself.
After Wednesday's trial proceedings, which included a tape recording of Wolf berating his daughter, Wolf — a disabled veteran who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and paranoid schizophrenia — went home and shot himself in an apparent suicide attempt, Bautista said.
Previous attorneys had questioned the man's competency, but had to rely on their own discernment. Bautista said he knew the man had a history of mental illness, but thought he was able to understand the court process.
"I believed he was competent, but competency can change at a moment's notice," Bautista said. "It can change at any time."
Because of the suicide attempt, Bautista asked that the trial be continued so Wolf's competency could be evaluated and because Bautista didn't think Wolf had voluntarily waived his right to be present at his own trial.
Third District Judge Randall Skanchy determined the man's actions were nothing more than a delay tactic and decided to continue with the second day of trial without him. The jurors were not told why Wolf was not present, Bautista said.
"There was never explanation to the jury," Bautista said. "And the entire defense was the defendant's testimony."
At trial, Wolf's ex-wife insisted the home the couple shared was hers alone and he didn't have any interest in it. Bautista said it hurt his client's case because he wasn't there to tell his version of events.
A jury found Wolf was guilty of stalking, a second-degree felony, and stalking, a third-degree felony, and making threats on a human life, a class B misdemeanor. He was also found guilty of a lesser charge of electronic communication harassment, a class B misdemeanor.
He was acquitted of making a terroristic threat, a second-degree felony.
"I argued that it was all electronic communication harassment, because (Wolf) never went to these peoples' homes or work, he never followed them in a car, never did the things that you think of when you think of stalking," Bautista said. "No one was physically hurt."
The man faces up to seven years in prison when he is sentenced June 27. Wolf is currently in the hospital in serious condition with a bullet in his intestinal tract. A $50,000 warrant was issued for the man's arrest.
Bautista said he was told the man was handcuffed to his hospital bed.
The attorney plans to appeal the verdict because Wolf wasn't able to testify in his own defense at trial.
Email:emorgan@ksl.com
