"Justice delayed is justice denied..." and can can we see by a show of hands how many within our savvy Weber County Forum readership are buying Commissioner Zogmaister's story?
For archival consistency, we'll post links to two Standard-Examiner stories reporting on the latest developments related to the Matthew Stewart shootemup case:
1) Setting of a preliminary hearing for Matthew David Stewart was postponed as officials wait on the completion of ballistics tests from the Jan. 4 shootout with police.
The Standard reports that "[Judge] Hyde opted to set another scheduling conference for July 30. At that time a preliminary hearing date, likely in October, will be set for three days."
"Justice delayed is justice denied", according to the old ax; and it's now been 6-1/2 months since the January 4 incident.
So much for Stewart's Sixth Amendment right to a "Speedy Trial" in this matter. "What's the holdup," we ask?
2) The Standard reports that "Weber County has canceled the contract of veteran defense attorney Randy Richards for indigent appeals." "It’s not because of his sometimes controversial representation of Matthew David Stewart, accused in one of the most hotly debated crimes here in years," sez the Standard-Examiner, also quoting Weber County Commissioner Jan Zogmaister:
"Stewart’s family and friends say the dropping of Richards from the
public defender roster is just another episode in what they see as
questionable handling of everything related to Stewart," the Standard adds.
So how about it, O Gentle Ones? Can we see by a show of hands how many within our savvy Weber County Forum readership are buying Commissioner Zogmaister's story?
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6 comments:
"I guess it's coincidental," he said of its timing. "All I know is I've had very good reviews by the appeals courts. I win a lot of cases."
This isn't an episode of CSI.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/54179668-78/lab-case-crime-state.html.csp
FAR longer than 80 days for the case in question.
Does this mean the state doesn't figure this case is a priority?
Another division in the Department of Public Safety that is facing strains because of budget cuts is the Utah Bureau of Forensic Services.
A huge influx of cases involving Spice has left lab workers struggling to keep up. A DNA expert has often been pulled off that duty to help identify Spice, but a prosecutor last week called to say he would lose a child rape case if he didn't get DNA test results back that week. A supervisor had to work all weekend to process the DNA.
"That's where we're walking fine line," he told legislators Friday in asking for $110,000 to hire a new Spice chemist.
Crime lab director Jay Henry also expressed concern about being able to process all of the ballistics evidence from the January Ogden shootout that left one police officer dead and five others wounded. The man who replaced the last firearm examiner is still working toward certification and has to send out his findings to other labs for verification. The department is asking for $100,000 to pay him more money so they don't lose him to another job.
"With any big case, it's going to be a challenge for us," Henry told The Tribune. "Years of budget cuts have caught up with us."
There was however $400,000 for attorney fees in the cross lawsuit.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/53440526-90/troopers-pay-department-asking.html.csp
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