Trial set for ex-jail officer in custodial sexual relations case

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FARMINGTON — A former corrections officer was ordered Wednesday to stand trial on allegations of illegal sexual conduct with a female inmate.

The 37-year-old woman testified Wednesday and described how Michael David Mueller, at that time a deputy with the Davis County Sheriff's Office, called her out of her cell one night in September 2014 to look for a paint spill in a utility closet as part of her custodial job in the jail.

"Deputy Mueller opened the utility closet, I took a step in and looked for the supposed spill, and he took a step in," the woman testified, describing how the corrections officer compelled her to engage in a sexual act. "It was only for a few seconds. I got really nervous. I said, 'I need to get back to my cell, somebody is going to find out.'"

A few days later, jail officials learned of the alleged encounter and a detective was assigned to investigate. Mueller resigned from the sheriff's office that month.

Mueller, 52, is charged with one count of custodial sexual relations, a third-degree felony. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The woman testified that she recognized Mueller from previous stays at the Davis County Jail, but after being booked on a parole violation in late June 2015, the deputy began talking to her and kissed her a few times in the utility closet and an alcove in the jail. The woman claimed she didn't want the attention from the deputy but feared what might happen if she reported it.

"I felt like it was a line that shouldn't have been crossed. I wasn't comfortable with it," the woman testified. "At this point I was an inmate in jail. It was my thinking that it was my word against a deputy."

Rich Gallegos, Mueller's attorney, questioned whether the woman had willingly accepted or invited interactions with Mueller, asking her about passing notes and accepting gifts from the deputy that included treats, batteries and makeup, and about reports of twice exposing her breasts to him.

"My thought was I was being taken advantage of … why not get something out of it?" the woman answered.

Prosecutor Susan Hunt countered that the question was irrelevant since the charge refers to the single sexual encounter between the two and that, as an inmate, the woman wasn't legally able to give consent.

Farmington police detective Scott Richardson testified about a police interview with Mueller, whom he called cooperative. Mueller reported that he had begun speaking to the woman, telling her of problems with his wife at the time, calling the woman "a good kisser" and explaining that the two had talked about getting together after the woman's release from jail.

In that interview, Mueller claimed he was the one who became alarmed and pulled away during the seconds-long encounter.

"He said he basically got freaked out," Richardson said.

Arraignment in the case has been set for Nov. 18.