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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Salt Lake County has settled a federal lawsuit with a citizen cited by a sheriff's deputy for burning a smiley face into a US flag.
Attorney Brian Barnard says the county has paid Kris Winsness 27-thousand dollars to settle his lawsuit against former county sheriff's deputy Stacie Campbell.
Campbell confiscated the burned flag Winsness hung on his garage in August 2002 after complaints from neighbors.
County prosecutors charged Winsness with violating Utah's "abuse of flag" statute, but later dropped the case.
Winsness then sued Campbell, the county and the state for violating his constitutional right to expression.
The 10th Circuit Court heard an appeal of the case last summer, but said Winsness couldn't sue the government because the charges against him were dropped.
The lawsuit against Campbell proceeded, however, and was set to go to trial next week.
Barnard says the county admits no wrongdoing in the settlement.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
