There's more highly disturbing news this morning in connection with the 1/4/12 Ogden Shootout case.
When folks, have you ever seen a county attorney call a press conference solely to lambaste a private defense attorney in a high profile murder case? The answer, folks, is never. Ethically-inclined public prosecutors don't due that. Well... not until yesterday, that is. In that connection, the Northern Utah news media is all abuzz this morning over yesterday's press conference, about which a variety of news media, everyone from the Standard-Examiner, the Deseret News, ABC4 News to KSL News are feverishly reporting that Weber County Attorney Dee Smith publicly "called out" Defendant Matthew David Stewart's private defense lawyer Randall Richards, accusing him of spreading "misinformation and misrepresentations," “playing games” with the court, and engaging in other purported "shenanigans."
Here's the KLS video on this story. Believe us folks, you're not going to believe your own eyes. Decide for yourselves whether County Attorney Smith has finally "gone off the deep end" (to adopt a little lay psychological parlance):
Mr. Smith's performance has to be the worst public display of professional public misconduct we've witnessed within memory. If County Attorney Smith had set out intentionally to "taint" the potential Weber County jury pool and provide defendant Stewart with another fact element to support an iron-clad basis for appeal upon any possible conviction in this matter, Mr. Smith could not have picked a more effective tactic.
There's been some public discussion centering on the question of whether Defendant Stewart will seek public funds to hire a psychiatric expert to serve as a possible defense witness in this case. Our suggestion... the Weber County Commission should immediately appropriate money to hustle Weber County's top prosecutor for his own psychiatric examination, to determine whether he's sufficiently of sound mind to continue to serve as the top lawyer in this case.
If Mr. Smith requires a forum to vent his childish frustrations, a public press conference is not the place to do it. The Utah Rules of Court provide an appropriate venue within the 2d District court, where the Utah v. Stewart matter is pending. If Mr. Smith believes that Mr. Richards has engaged in any misconduct, Mr. Smith should petition presiding judge Hyde to issue sanctions against Richards. Smith is an experienced lawyer himself, of course, so he's obviously aware of that remedy. With that in mind, Mr. Smith's motivations for this latest egregious public misbehavior become all the more bizarre and mysterious. Mr. Smith's latest attempt to try the matter in the press is an dangerous and mendacious tactic. Perhaps Mr. Richards should himself consider seeking similar sanctions against Mr. Smith. Who knows... maybe Smith and Richards should even adopt the traditional Ogden approach... and settle this in the parking lot.
So what about it, O Gentle Ones?
Does this case get ever crazier with every passing minute, or what?
