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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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.
OGDEN — The case of a Cache County attorney charged with obstruction of justice has been moved to Weber County.
Tess Ann Davis, 47, of Logan, is charged with two counts of obstruction of justice, a third-degree felony. She represented Jerrilyn Nyman in her divorce proceedings from Lonnie Kent Nyman, 44, of Millville, Cache County.
Lonnie Nyman — the owner of Nyman Funeral Home — is facing 11 charges following an investigation that began when his estranged wife found child pornography on his iPad, according to charging documents. Jerrilyn Nyman told Davis of the discovery, who in turn called police.
But when detectives attempted to arrange a time to collect the evidence from her, Davis said her client had changed her mind, according to the charges. Police said they were forced to go to Davis' office with a search warrant to collect the items they needed.
On Wednesday, the judge assigned to Davis' case recused herself and moved the case to 2nd District Court in Weber County.
According to 1st District Judge Angela Fonnesbeck's order, Davis regularly appears before all of the judges in the 1st District. Furthermore, Davis "has made contact or attempted to make contact with the judges in this district regarding this case, which resulted in a judge from this district being named as a witness in this case," the order states.
To avoid a possible conflict of interest, the case was reassigned.
Lonnie Nyman is charged with three counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, a second-degree felony; four counts of dealing in harmful materials to a minor, witness tampering and obstruction of justice, third-degree felonies; and two counts of enticing a minor, a class A misdemeanor.
Editor's note: A previous version of this story said Lonnie Nyman is 34. The Utah Attorney General's Office confirmed that Lonnie Nyman is 44, and the birth date listed in both formal charging documents and the court docket was wrong. This story has been updated to show his correct age.
