Emery County Attorney Mark H. Tanner put his head down on a courtroom table and broke into sobs after pleading guilty Thursday afternoon to forging a client's signature on a court document.
"It was an incredibly unwise and incredibly stupid thing to do," Tanner said in a later interview. Tanner plead guilty to one federal forgery count hours after the U.S. attorney's office charged Tanner with the crime.Tanner will promptly resign as county attorney and expects to lose his license to practice law, he said. However, Tanner's most important case - the prosecution of two teenagers for the shooting death of Utah Highway Patrol trooper Dennis Lund - will not suffer.
"The preparation for trial shouldn't skip a beat," Tanner said. "My deputy David Blackwell has been helping me from the start along with the Utah attorney general's office. There have been some very qualified attorneys on this case from the beginning, and they will carry on."
Assistant Utah Attorney General Creighton Horton will assist in the prosecution, said Palmer DePaulis, spokesman for the Utah attorney general's office. A hearing will be held in Emery County Tuesday to set a trial date.
Carrying on will be harder for Tanner, his wife and their five children. "I don't know what I'm going to do," he said. "I'm quite certain the Utah State Bar will take away my license to practice law."
Tanner appeared in court with his parents, his wife, his sister and brother-in-law. Most of the family wept during the brief hearing. When Tanner broke down sobbing at the end of the hearing, his wife and father went to the defense table, put their arms around him and wept with him.
"That was the saddest day I've had as a lawyer," said Brent Ward, attorney for Tanner. "I've never seen an isolated incident cause so much pain and suffering."
The incident began when the federal government seized $100,890 from an Emery County man in September 1993. Emery County deputies found the money during an April 1989 traffic stop. The money was found in the gas tank of a van. Tests at the state crime lab showed that the cash had come in contact with cocaine, so state officials seized it, saying it was involved in a drug crime.
However, the Utah Supreme Court ordered the state to return the money to its owner, Hurdley Evans, a Los Angeles resident. In order to keep the money, the state must prove that money was involved in the violation of a state drug law, the ruling said. Cocaine on the cash was not proof, the ruling said.
Before county officials could return the money, the U.S. attorney's office seized it, arguing that federal law allowed the government to seize and keep any money involved with illegal drugs.
Under federal seizure laws, the cocaine on the cash was proof of the money's involvement with illegal drugs, U.S. Attorney David Jordan said at the time.
Evans hired Tanner in 1990 to help him get the $100,890 back. But during the 3 1/2-year battle over the money, Evans and Tanner lost touch.
The two men disagree over who failed to stay in touch with whom, Tanner said.
A few weeks before Tanner took office as county attorney, he offered to cut a deal with Jordan. The federal government could keep 90 percent of the money if Evans could get 10 percent back.
Tanner cut the deal with Jordan's office in December 1992. "It came down to whether I could get $10,089 for my client or get nothing. I felt it was best to take the offer," Tanner said Friday.
But Tanner failed to consult Evans. "I couldn't get a hold of him. I didn't know where he was, so I had to make the decision on my own."
Tanner found out that in order to sign the agreement for Evans, he had to have a document from Evans granting him power of attorney. Tanner drew up a "special power of attorney" document and forged Evans' signature to it.
That decision cost him his career.