A state prosecutor has asked the Utah Supreme Court to uphold a state law that could send developer C. Dean Larsen to jail pending the outcome of his appeal of fraud convictions.
Assistant Attorney General David Thompson told the court in a hearing Wednesday that the trial court failed to use a restrictive 1988 state statute when it allowed Larsen to go free on $10,000 bail.But defense attorney David Arrington argued that the judge properly applied a law adopted by the courts in 1985 in granting Larsen bail.
Wednesday's hearing on the bail issue was an offshoot of Larsen's 1990 conviction in 3rd District Court of 18 counts of securities fraud stemming from his now-defunct Granada Inc. development company.
Prosecutors said Larsen, 56, defrauded investors of $1 million.
The 18 counts of securities fraud have been upheld by the Utah Court of Appeals, but Larsen is not in jail because he is appealing to the Supreme Court. On Monday, the Court of Appeals also reinstated a guilty verdict for theft.
The trial court granted Larsen bail pending his appeals in court under the guidelines of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure.
The state appealed the trial court's decision to the Utah Court of Appeals, which decided the trial court had found the 1988 law unconstitutional in relying on the earlier statute.