Utah Supreme Court hears allegations against ex-police chief

Utah Supreme Court hears allegations against ex-police chief

(Jordan Allred/Deseret News/File)


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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The case of a former small-town police chief accused of mishandling a domestic violence complaint against his brother and trying to cover it up came before the Utah Supreme Court Monday.

Prosecutors said that 37-year-old Adam Howard Jones should have done more after his brother's girlfriend called him for help in February 2011 and reported that he'd kicked her while he was drunk.

Jones went to the house in Kamas and told his brother to go to bed, but after he left his brother assaulted the girlfriend and her son, according to charging documents.

Prosecutors filed misconduct and witness tampering charges against Jones, but they were dismissed by Utah Judge L.A. Dever. He ruled that Jones was there as a brother rather than a police officer, so he didn't have the same responsibility to report the allegations or make an arrest. An appeals court agreed.

Defense attorneys say those rulings should stand.

"Police officers are entitled to a private life," said Jones's lawyer, Ron Yengich.

But prosecutors say that Jones came over before his shift ended, wore his uniform and handled the situation like an officer —all indications that he should have reported the allegations.

If he had, he "would have indeed prevented the future violence that night," said assistant attorney general John Nielsen.

No deadline was set Monday for the high court to make a ruling in the case.

Prosecutors say that Jones got the call just before the end of his shift in the town of Kamas, about 45 miles east of Salt Lake City. When he arrived, the girlfriend said that his brother had kicked her, according to charging documents.

Though Jones knew his brother often became violent when he was drunk, he didn't see any marks. He told her that he couldn't handle the complaint because of the family relationship and offered to call the Summit County Sheriff's Office.

She said the couple couldn't afford for him to go back to jail and declined. Jones put him to bed and went home. Later that night, the brother assaulted both his girlfriend and her 10-year-old son, according to charging documents.

Prosecutors say that Jones later tried to cover up his involvement in the ordeal by saying that his brother had been passed out the entire time Jones was at the house that night.

Yengich disputed the report from a jail officer who overheard the conversation between the two brothers.

"The officer himself doesn't recall exactly what words were said," he said. Some justices were also skeptical about the witness tampering charge, but prosecutors argued it nevertheless should have gone before a jury rather than being tossed out by Dever.

While state law gives police responsibility to record domestic violence complaints even if the victim doesn't want to press charges, Yengich said that Jones didn't see any violence or any marks on the alleged victim.

Under questioning from justices, he acknowledged that Jones would have had a responsibility to arrest his brother if he'd seen a kick, but said Jones did all he could under the circumstances.

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