Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A lawsuit filed by a former Miss Utah and her business partner that says Provo police arrested them without cause has been revived.
The Utah Court of Appeals this week sent the lawsuit filed by Elizabeth Craig and Brady Harper back to 4th District Court, saying a judge erred when he dismissed it.
The appeals court ruled the city of Provo was not immune from a statute that provided the two more time to sue. The city had argued it was immune because it's a government entity.
"Overall, this is a good deal for the public because it means when the government does something wrong, they (the public) are not going to get tripped up because of technicalities," Matt Howell, Craig's attorney, told The Daily Herald newspaper of Provo.
Craig and Harper, in their lawsuit, accuse Provo and its police department of malicious prosecution.
The two were accused of illegally selling Nu Skin care products on eBay that had been donated for charity to a company called Nu Lite, and then pocketing the money. But theft and other charges were dropped against them in December 2010.
The lawsuit contends that as Miss Utah in 1991-92, Craig lost substantial income because of media interest in her arrest.
Provo officials, who now have a few weeks to appeal the ruling to the Utah Supreme Court, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday. They have said the lawsuit was without merit.
Last November, Craig also sued the city in federal court, claiming police officers violated her civil rights during their investigation of the theft allegations.
She said she didn't steal Nu Skin's merchandise, but was legally selling surplus products donated to her business partner. She says Provo police went along with trumped up allegations from Nu Skin employees who set up a sting to shut down any sales outside of their multilevel marketing structure.
Attorneys for the city denied her allegations, saying police did their own investigation and acted properly in the case.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
