Two suspects in Kiplyn Davis case ask for sentencing delays
Christopher Neal Jeppson and David Rucker Leifson have filed motions to postpone their sentencing on charges they lied to a federal grand jury and an FBI agent about what they know about the fate of the 15-year-old Spanish Fork High School student.
Jeppson has filed a motion for a new trial, claiming federal prosecutors withheld evidence that he could have used during his trial. A federal jury found Jeppson guilty of perjury last September.
In his motion, Jeppson said prosecutors failed to reveal to his defense attorneys that another student at Spanish Fork High School, who claimed to be the last person to see Davis alive, had failed a polygraph test and asked others to make up false alibis for him on where he was on the day of the disappearance.
Leifson has also asked the court to put off his sentencing. In his motion, Leifson's attorney says he is still currently negotiating with prosecutors over several legal issues, including how much time Leifson should serve in prison.
Last October, Leifson accepted a plea deal with prosecutors, avoiding trial. Leifson plead guilty to one count of perjury in exchange for having five other counts dismissed.
A judge has already granted a motion to continue Jeppson's sentencing. Jeppson is also charged along with Timmy Brent Olsen in Davis' murder in state court.
Olsen was the first to be sentenced for perjury in federal court after a jury found him guilty of perjury. Olsen was sentenced to serve 12 years in federal prison, which included a cross-reference enhancement to criminal activity.
U.S. District Attorney for Utah spokeswoman Melodie Rydalch said her office is prepared to move forward with Leifson's sentencing on Thursday. A federal judge has yet to rule on whether the hearing will be continued.
Davis vanished from her school on May 2, 1995. Investigators believe she was taken up Spanish Fork Canyon where she was raped, killed and her body buried in a secret location.
Police say for more than a decade Davis' disappearance has been surrounded by a conspiracy of silence among fellow students, who have given police false alibis and threatened others to keep quiet.
E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com
Recent comments
Mr. Jeppson did not file a motion to have his sentencing continued...
Misleading | May 20, 2008 at 9:29 p.m.
