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FARMINGTON — Attorney Robert Sykes unfolded a large quilt in 2nd District Judge Michael Allphine's courtroom Monday and laid it out on the floor.
The dozens of little pieces that make up the quilt, all shapes and sizes, are like the DUI cases former Utah Highway Patrol Trooper of the Year Lisa Steed falsified, Sykes said. And the solid red border around the blanket that surrounded those pieces represent Steed.
On Monday, Sykes argued why he believes all the motorists who claim Steed either made traffic stops under false pretenses or later falsified DUI reports should be lumped together into a class action lawsuit.
"All cases rest upon a common foundation of fraud, dishonesty and falsehoods," Sykes argued in court. "There is a blanket of dishonesty in every case."
But attorneys representing Steed and the Utah Highway Patrol disagreed.
"The blanket's red border doesn't matter. You have to look at each square of the blanket," said assistant attorney general Meb Anderson, who is representing Steed.
In 2009, Steed made more than 400 DUI arrests — far above the number that any other individual trooper made. The Utah Trooper of the Year was nominated for National Trooper of the Year.
But she was later accused of violating department policies, falsifying police reports and using questionable practices when making those DUI arrests. Steed was eventually fired from the UHP.
Currently, three plaintiffs are named in lawsuits against Steed. However, Sykes said Monday he has been able to identify 1,500 to 2,000 potential victims dating back to 2006 representing more than 200 cases.
"There's so much evidence of (a pattern of dishonesty)," Sykes said. "The facts are enormous here. … There's a blanket of dishonest conduct."
"She had an arsenal of dishonest conduct, but it was all very similar stuff," Sykes argued. "We will be able to show … trooper Steed universally used dishonest conduct to expand those (traffic) stops from an ordinary stop to a DUI investigation."
She had an arsenal of dishonest conduct, but it was all very similar stuff. We will be able to show … trooper Steed universally used dishonest conduct to expand those (traffic) stops from an ordinary stop to a DUI investigation.
–Robert Sykes, attorney
Anderson, however, said his client will dispute that the traffic stops she made lacked probable cause or reasonable suspicion.
"I don't believe a pattern has been shown, and they certainly are individual cases. The facts are different in each case," he said.
Both Anderson and attorney Scott Cheney, who represents the UHP, said the summary of facts surrounding each individual arrest cannot be generalized and therefore should not be lumped into a single class action suit. They believe an individual trial should be held for each case.
"Individual and not common issues dominate the analysis," Cheney said, "We don't know what evidence was involved in every one of these purported cases."
The judge, he said, would have to conduct "mini trials" to look at the evidence for each of the alleged 2,000 plaintiffs.
Anderson said the fact that Steed was fired from her job, despite claiming every one of her traffic stops was legitimate, is not relevant.
"All that is relevant in this case is whether, viewed objectively, there was probable cause or reasonable suspicion for her stops and arrests. And she believes there was in each case," he said.
If the case is given class-action status, the payout could total nearly $20 million. Sykes said Monday that if the judge certifies the case as a class action, he would be "shocked" if an out-of-court resolution wasn't reached.
"Mr. Sykes indicated in court if we did something wrong, pay up. My response to that is, let's analyze these cases individually and determine if anything that was done was wrong," Anderson said.
If the case is not given class-action status, it's unknown whether the alleged hundreds of potential victims would pursue individual lawsuits.
Allphin took the arguments under advisement and said he would issue a written decision at a later time. Anderson believes a ruling could be weeks to even months away.
