Third District Judge Leslie Lewis has become only the second district judge in the state to be ousted by a majority of voters.
On Tuesday, 54 percent of voters in Salt Lake, Summit and Tooele counties decided to remove the controversial jurist from the bench following a grass-roots campaign of people dissatisfied with her behavior.
Lewis joins former district judge David Young, who lost by 53 percent in his retention election in 2002.
Utah courts spokeswoman Nancy Volmer said Tuesday that Lewis was out of state and could not be reached for comment.
Two Utah Supreme Court Justices, Ronald Nehring and Jill Parrish, joined 23 other district court judges in receiving retention votes of 77 percent up to 88 percent in approval. Also, Grand County Justice Court Judge Paul Cox became the second justice court judge to be removed from the bench.
Lewis, who has been on the bench since 1991, has been widely criticized in recent weeks regarding a February incident in which she sent a bailiff to bring back into her courtroom a man who sighed, got up and left the room. The man was not charged with any crime but was present to support his brother, who had helped a friend load onto a vehicle a dead deer that had been illegally shot.
Lewis then questioned the man pointedly, criticized him when he replied and had him handcuffed and placed in a holding cell for about 20 minutes. The man said he filed a complaint with the Judicial Conduct Commission (JCC), which investigates and acts on claims of judicial misbehavior.
A video of the incident was posted on the
Internet site You Tube. One individual posted a death threat on the site, but the anonymous creator of a separate Web site warned against any violence and urged the public to use the ballot box to oust Lewis from the bench.
Following that threat, the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office heightened security for the judge.
Other people dissatisfied with Lewis also began coming forward with their own stories. A local defense attorney spoke up about a situation in which Lewis, during a phone conversation, offered to take 10 years off a convicted sex offender's 30-year prison term, but told the defense attorney not to discuss the matter with prosecutors. If true, such an action violates the code of professional conduct that governs judges.
Salt Lake County District Attorney David Yocom said his office filed a complaint with the JCC and asked the Utah Attorney General's Office to get the original sentence reinstated.
The Utah Attorney General's Office has petitioned the Utah Court of Appeals to have Lewis' decision reversed and to have the 10 years reinstated to the sex offender's sentence.
E-mail: gfattah@desnews.com