- The Utah Court of Appeals says Cottonwood Heights can revive charges against Tali Bruce.
- Bruce was charged with interfering with an officer during a 2020 protest against police violence.
- The 3rd District Court will now decide if undisclosed records of officer discipline justify dismissing the case.
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah's court of appeals ruled that Cottonwood Heights could seek to revive charges it filed against a then-city councilwoman following a 2020 protest.
Tali Bruce was charged in Holladay Justice Court with interfering with an arresting officer, a class B misdemeanor.
Bruce was taking part in a protest regarding the police killing of Zane James in a Cottonwood Heights neighborhood Aug. 2 when it erupted into struggles between protesters and officers who had directed them to walk on sidewalks instead of in the residential street. Police used stun guns and pepper spray, arresting eight people in the melee that prompted renewed calls for statewide reforms and de-escalation training.
In a video Bruce captured of the scene, she can be heard saying she was hit in the neck and shoved by an officer. Court documents don't provide details about the alleged conduct supporting the charge against her.
Justice Court Judge Brendan McCullagh dismissed the case in September 2023, and Cottonwood Heights appealed the case to the district court.
Because the city's notice of the appeal was filed before the justice court judge signed an official order dismissing the case, 3rd District Court Judge Kristine Johnson decided the appeal was not filed in time and dismissed the appeal.
The city then filed a lawsuit in the Court of Appeals against the judge, asking the appellate court to reconsider — and the group of judges determined the appeal was not disqualified because it was filed early. The July 25 order reinstated the initial appeal and placed the case back in the district court.
Bruce claimed in her motion asking for the dismissal that officers submitted false and misleading statements, specifically not disclosing misconduct at the protest and bias.
"We — that is, the public and the parties — find out about an officer's misdeeds, if ever, only when they disclose them. But, as this case demonstrates, there are no guarantees that the police will, well, police themselves," Bruce's motion to dismiss argued.
The order dismissing the case said Bruce's attorney learned of disciplinary records for officers in a conversation shortly before she was scheduled for trial. The conversation was with a lawyer who represented Bruce in a civil case she filed against the city and officers, accusing them of conspiring to shut down the protest.
However, when her attorney in the criminal case asked the police chief for the records, he was told there were none.
The order said the prosecutor had also been told there were no disciplinary records, because Cottonwood Heights Police Chief Robby Russo determined they were not important. The justice court judge, however, found the police chief's failure to turn them over was "unconscionable," and it should not have been his decision whether they were important.
Now, the district court will determine if the failure to disclose those records earlier in the case should have merited a dismissal of the case, or if the misdemeanor charge against Bruce can go to trial.
She is not the only one who faced charges following the protest; Zane James' brother, Gabriel Pecoraro, pleaded guilty to interfering with an officer last year.
