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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Utah's attorney general's office is asking the state Court of Appeals to invalidate the reduced sentence of a sex offender because it was illegally imposed.
Prosecutors also want a district court hearing to determine why 3rd District Judge Leslie Lewis decided to alter the convicted man's original sentence without notifying prosecutors.
Lewis, whom prosecutors want disqualified from the case, could be called to testify.
In October, Salt Lake County's district attorney filed a complaint against the judge with the state's Judicial Conduct Commission, saying she dropped James Robert Scott's 30-years-to-life sentence without consulting the prosecution.
Lewis dropped 10 years off the bottom-end of the punishment in March after receiving a complaint letter from Scott's defense attorney Roger Kraft, who said Lewis had repeatedly interrupted him and argued with him during the sentencing.
Court papers filed by state attorneys state Lewis asked Kraft not to discuss her intentions to reduce the sentence with prosecutors. Court papers also show the amended sentence was signed and dated by Lewis a full month before she spoke to Kraft.
Kraft reported Lewis' alleged misconduct to prosecutors in September.
The commission is investigating the allegations.
Lewis initially imposed consecutive sentences of 10 years-to life for each of three first-degree felony counts to which Scott pleaded guilty. As amended, just two of the sentences are consecutive and the third is to be served concurrently.
Utah Board of Pardons and Parole spokesman Jim Hatch said the change only reduces the sentence by 3.5 years. Hatch said he bases that number on the state's sentencing matrix, a chart the parole board uses as a guide when setting parole dates.
Ultimately, the state parole board decides how much time convicted offenders serve in the state prison or on parole.
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Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
