PROVO — The testimony of a jail inmate could clear convicted murderer John Pinder of his crimes. But should that testimony be heard by the public?
Attorneys on both sides say it should not.
An attorney for Pinder says he has located a witness who will testify that Pinder's ranch hand, Filomeno Valenchia-Ruiz, confessed to being responsible for the brutal murders of two other ranch hands in October 1998 in Duchesne County, exonerating Pinder of the crime.
Pinder, 43, is serving two consecutive life terms for the murders of Rex Tanner and June Flood. Prosecutors believe Pinder, with the help of Ruiz, kidnapped Tanner and Flood from their home on Pinder's ranch.
The men then allegedly drove Tanner and Flood to a remote location, where they shot them execution-style and then used explosives to dispose of their remains.
During trial, Ruiz testified that Pinder was the one who orchestrated the murders and he was simply an accomplice.
Ruiz is serving five years to life for the slayings.
However, according to a motion filed last week by Pinder's attorney, Andrew Parnes, Ruiz allegedly confessed to killing Tanner and Flood to an inmate only identified as "John Doe."
While being held in the Duchesne County Jail for several months in 1999 for the murders, Ruiz allegedly told a fellow jail inmate that a man other than Pinder helped him in his plan to kill Tanner and Flood and that this was not the first time he had killed someone.
"After trial, Doe, a new witness, informed trial counsel that Ruiz had confessed to Doe. Specifically, that while incarcerated in Duchesne County Jail, Ruiz confessed to the murders and exonerated defendant," the motion states. "However, this witness fears retaliation by Filo Ruiz and the Mexican Mafia if he testifies publicly."
Out of this concern, Parnes has asked that during the hearing for a new trial, the testimony of the witness be done out of the public eye.
"Defendant concedes that the hearing on his motion for new trial is one to which the public's general right of access has attached," Parnes wrote. "However, the public's right to access must bend in favor of defendant's fair trial rights and Doe's safety."
Jeff Hunt, legal counsel for the Utah Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, said testimony that could reverse the convicted in a double-murder case is important enough to remain open to the public.
Parnes said attorneys for the Utah Attorney General's Office, who prosecuted Pinder, have also agreed the testimony should be closed.
Fourth District Judge Lynn Davis has scheduled a special hearing in December to give local media a chance to argue against closing the witness testimony in Pinder's motion for a new trial.
E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com