PARK CITY — Paul Wayment faces a June trial in connection with his son's October freezing death in the mountains above Coalville, although jurors will not hear all of the man's emotional statements to police.
Police interviewed the distraught father twice after Wayment's 2 1/2-year-old son, Gage, got out of his truck and wandered off into the woods while Wayment was scouting a hunting area Oct. 26, 2000. The child's body was found five days later by a volunteer who joined the search and rescue effort.
The first, 52-minute interview took place in a search vehicle at the scene some 14 hours after the child had been reported missing. The second lasted 75 minutes and came four days later at the Summit County Sheriff's Office.
Defense attorney Glen Cook argued Wednesday that both interviews came at times when Wayment was hungry, thirsty, overly tired and emotionally drained.
Summit County sheriff's deputy Carey Yeates and detective James Snyder testified Wayment was crying uncontrollably and vomiting when they first arrived on the scene.
"Clearly in the condition described by two different deputies to you, this man's statements are not reliable," Cook said. "The statements are so extreme that he's asked to die."
Third District Judge Robert Hilder suppressed the entire first interview, which allegedly included a statement that Wayment was away from the truck for what prosecutors deem a "significant amount of time." Information from the second interview, however, will be allowed at trial because there had been a break in time and Wayment had had a chance to rest, Hilder ruled.
Summit County Attorney Robert Adkins said the suppressed interview will not hurt his case. Evidence from witnesses at the scene will prove that Gage was left alone for 1 hour and 40 minutes, Adkins said. Cook, however, argues Wayment was only gone for 30 minutes.
The time frame will be an issue in the upcoming trial, Adkins said, although it will not be a key factor.
Also on Wednesday, Hilder ruled that only two photos of the child's body will be allowed at trial. Prosecutors had sought to admit 24 photos to illustrate Gage's condition and manner of dress at the time he was found, but Cook argued the photos would only inflame jurors.
"It is playing to the passions and prejudices of the jury," Cook said. "You get their sympathy; you get them all riled up."
Hilder said it is important to show how the boy was dressed that day — in pajamas with thin, rubber feet — and ordered Gage's head and hands be cropped from the photos before they are introduced at trial.
Cook had also alleged prosecutorial misconduct, claiming statements made to the press impaired Wayment's right to a fair trial. But Adkins said the statements came from police, not prosecutors.
The issue was settled Wednesday as both sides agreed everyone in the 80-member jury pool will be interviewed in the judge's chambers. Anyone who has heard of the case will be excused.
The judge will define negligent homicide, a class A misdemeanor, for jurors before the trial begins. The unusual move — jurors are usually instructed as to the elements of a crime before they go into deliberations — is to counter Cook's concern that the incorrect definition was portrayed in news reports.
If convicted at trial, Wayment faces up to one year in jail and $2,500 in fines.
E-mail: awelling@desnews.com