Conflict of interest claim made in Layton murder case
During oral arguments before the Utah Supreme Court on Monday, an attorney for Mark Anthony Ott said Ott's trial defense attorney, the late John Caine, failed to disclose a conflict of interest with then-Davis County Attorney Mel Wilson. Ott also claims Caine did not fully prepare for trial.
Elizabeth Hunt told justices Caine had a "significant conflict" in representing Ott when Wilson had also hired Caine to represent Wilson's wife in an unrelated civil suit at the same time. Hunt said neither Caine nor Wilson disclosed this conflict to Ott or the court at the time.
Hunt said also at the time Wilson was a member of the Davis County's indigent trust fund board, which hired Caine to defend Ott, although Wilson abstained from the vote to hire Caine.
Coupled with indications that Caine soft-balled his efforts to defend Ott, Hunt questioned where Caine's loyalties rested.
"Whose interests did he serve?" Hunt asked.
Ott has also presented a long list of claims that Caine was deficient, including failing to challenge mental competency evaluations and failing to bring up evidence of post-traumatic-stress disorder and brain damage as a defense.
Assistant Utah Attorney General Laura Dupaix said Caine was a noted defense attorney who had over 30 years experience handling capital murder cases and had represented as many as 50 homicide defendants.
As for the claim of conflict of interest, Dupaix argued that Ott has to show that this conflict had a direct effect on Caine's performance in the murder case.
Before trial, Ott plead guilty to aggravated murder as well as attempted aggravated murder and aggravated assault. In exchange, prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty. What was left for the jury to decide was whether or not Ott would be eligible for parole. After a five-day hearing, the jury sentenced Ott to life in prison without parole.
Dupaix said Caine's strategy was to convince the jury that Ott was able to be rehabilitated. He wanted to show that with the proper medication for Ott's bi-polar disorder, he could function normally if he were granted a chance at parole. Caine withheld evidence of Ott's alleged post-traumatic stress disorder from being a Gulf War veteran and brain damage from a childhood injury because that would show the jury he was not able to function in society.
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