OREM — A Provo man who aspires to become a member of Congress makes no attempt to hide his previous legal woes.
As a matter of fact, it is chief among the reasons he filed to run for office.
Philip Hallman, a Libertarian candidate for Utah's 3rd Congressional District seat, faced felony assault charges stemming from an alleged road-rage incident last November.
The assault charge was ultimately dismissed, and now Hallman welcomes the opportunity to discuss the matter, saying the experience was a key factor in his decision to run.
"There's some abuse of power that goes on out there," Hallman said. "I'm kind of grateful for the experience because it opened my eyes."
On Nov. 30, Hallman was on a side road near Spanish Fork, attempting to cross under I-15 and proceed into town. An accident that day had forced a closure of the freeway, and traffic was being directed off I-15, across the road Hallman was on and then back onto the freeway.
According to court documents, a traffic flagger from the Utah Department of Transportation said Hallman became visibly agitated while he was stopped at the intersection, crossed when it wasn't his turn and drove his car straight at the flagger, as if to hit him, before swerving at the last second and continuing on his way.
Hallman disputes the flagger's account, saying he lost sight of the flagger in the traffic and began to cross when another driver coming off the freeway stopped at the intersection and waved to him to go through.
The flagger yelled at him and told him to pull over, Hallman said, and after pulling over and waiting about 45 seconds, he saw the flagger go back to directing traffic.
Thinking the incident was over, Hallman said, he continued on his way.
The next day, a Utah Highway Patrol trooper visited Hallman at his Provo residence to investigate claims of assault made by the flagger.
Again, accounts differ.
According to a probable cause statement written by UHP trooper Tracy Paletta, Hallman was uncooperative when he answered and slammed the door in Paletta's face.
"I knocked on the door again, and the door opened about 6 inches," Paletta said in the statement. "I watched (Hallman) for a second to see if he was getting anything. He just paced back and forth in the kitchen."
The trooper wrote in the statement that he told Hallman to return to the door and placed him under arrest.
But according to Hallman, he told Paletta he wanted to talk to a lawyer, but Paletta said he couldn't because he wasn't under arrest. Hallman said he told the trooper to get a warrant and went back inside, but Paletta came inside the house and placed him under arrest.
"That's actually one of the reasons I decided to run," Hallman said. "I was under the impression that if you're in your house and a police officer shows up at your house, you have the right to talk to an attorney."
Initially, the Utah County Attorney's Office said there was not enough evidence to charge Hallman with assault, but a second statement from the flagger gave attorneys enough evidence to file charges against him.
Hallman said he thinks the second statement was provided to cover what he calls "illegal actions" by Paletta. He says the court case was nothing more than an overblown attempt at covering for the trooper.
A UHP spokesman said the incident was investigated.
"There was a complaint filed against the trooper in this incident," spokesman Brian Hyer said. "They looked into it down there (in the Orem UHP office) and found it to not be substantial."
Hallman was charged with third-degree felony aggravated assault and an infraction of failure to obey a peace officer. In April, as part of a plea deal, Hallman pleaded guilty to the failure to obey a peace officer charge and apologized to the flagger in court. He paid a $75 fine for the infraction.
In exchange, the felony assault charged was dropped.
Hallman said the matters of wrongful arrest and what he calls "malicious prosecution" — prosecutors at one point requested a competency evaluation for Hallman — are not resolved.
"I've always been a little bit wary of big government," Hallman said. "There's not much that separates a democracy from tyranny."
E-mail: jtwitchell@desnews.com