Workman's case stalls

Beleaguered Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman's lawyer said Monday that District Attorney David Yocom's last-minute decision to seek a special prosecutor in Workman's legal case is a simple delay tactic that he plans to challenge.

Workman attorney Greg Skordas, who is trying to get the case adjudicated before November's general election, was told of Yocom's intent only minutes before Workman's initial court appearance hearing Monday.

Skordas had planned to waive Workman's preliminary hearing and ask for a trial date, but prosecutors objected — an unusual move that lengthens the legal process and makes a verdict in Workman's case virtually impossible by the Nov. 2 election.

Wrapping up a trial so soon might be a long shot to some observers, but it's not to Skordas and co-counsel Jack Morgan.

"I can't think of any reason for the district attorney's office to do this today except to delay this trial," Skordas said outside the courtroom. "They've had this case for two months. We've had this case for a weekend."

In a press release citing Republican Workman's "extensive public statements ... that the prosecution of this matter is being conducted for political reasons," Democrat Yocom said he is seeking a special prosecutor because it is "the only appropriate and ethical way to eliminate the claim of a possible conflict of interest."

"(Yocom is acting) as though it's the first time they've ever heard it's a political prosecution," Skordas said. "It's just a recitation of what the Workman camp has said all along and Yocom has denied."

Skordas said if Yocom wanted a special prosecutor, he should have arranged to get one before Monday's hearing. "That decision (to seek a special prosecutor) should have been made two months ago," Skordas said outside the courtroom. "We advised him we will move on a fast track."

It is unusual for a prosecutor to not want to head straight to trial, Skordas said.

Skordas filed two new documents in 3rd District Court on Monday, objecting to the appointment of a special prosecutor and to a motion to postpone a hearing scheduled today. He said continuing the hearing is unnecessary because there should not be a special prosecutor.

Skordas argues that a "true" conflict of interest does not exist to justify a special prosecutor.

"The state apparently argues that 'politics' creates conflict, stating that because the district attorney is a Democrat and (the) defendant is a Republican, a special prosecutor is required. However, such an argument is unwarranted, as the political affiliations of the defendant and the prosecutor play no part in the criminal process," the motion states.

Yocom could not be reached for comment, but Democratic County Councilman Joe Hatch defended him. "They want their cake and eat it, too," Hatch said. "They get to do things that are political, and Yocom can't. If that means Yocom has to change to someone who isn't tainted by that constant, constant drumbeat (of criticism from Workman), so be it."

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