After being booted from a summer internship at the Matheson Courthouse, Laura Fuller has landed a different one — outside a courthouse.
Fuller, who acknowledges a relationship with polygamist John Daniel Kingston, claims 3rd District Juvenile Court Judge Andrew Valdez meddled in her law school internship efforts.
"I am hurt and surprised that Judge Valdez has such strong feelings of hatred and animosity toward me and has taken steps to hurt me, my education and my career," Fuller told the Deseret Morning News in an e-mail Thursday. "I am surprised that he has gone so far as to prevent my placement in clerkships outside of the courthouse as well as any judicial placements."
Fuller was supposed to be serving a summer internship with 3rd District Juvenile Court Judge Ric Oddone. However, sources told the Deseret Morning News that when he introduced his new intern to his colleague Valdez on Monday, the internship was over.
A spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of the Courts said Fuller's internship was ended because of the "appearance of a conflict of interest."
Valdez was unavailable for comment.
Valdez previously presided over the recent child-custody case involving Kingston and Heidi Mattingly-Foster. Fuller, who was a paralegal for their lawyers, was kicked out of the courtroom when testimony revealed she may be one of Kingston's wives. Valdez chastised her and lawyers in the case. Mattingly-Foster won custody of her children, but the case is still pending before another judge in West Jordan.
Linda Smith, professor and clinical program director for the University of Utah's S.J. Quinney College of Law, said Valdez did speak to her about Fuller. However, Smith said that conversation did not influence the new internship placement arranged for Fuller in a Salt Lake City law firm.
"Judge Valdez did call me," she said. "But his insights are not driving our decision-making. Judge Oddone had already made the decision."
Smith said Oddone had already spoken to her assistant, expressing concern about a conflict of interest to have Fuller serving in a clerking capacity when she has been involved in a case still pending in juvenile court. Student resumes provide judges with some information about interns, but not all personal information. It is not unusual for a potential conflict of interest to not be immediately apparent, she said.
Smith discussed the situation with Fuller, and the idea of an internship in another district court came up, but they decided a law office in Salt Lake City would be more convenient.
"I am interested in the student having a supported educational experience. If personal issues are interfering with that, it's not the ideal learning experience," Smith said.
Fuller said she takes offense at the term "polygamist," while acknowledging her religion believes in the principle of plural marriage. In an interview with the Deseret Morning News, Fuller said she is not a "polygamist wife."
"He didn't 'purport' to marry. We are in a committed relationship and he is the father of my children," she said. "We are not married. We never married. I am one of the ladies in his family."
Fuller said she decided to become a lawyer after the criminal and civil cases against the Kingston family. In 2000, she enrolled in Salt Lake Community College's paralegal program. Currently, she is a second-year law student and an MBA student at the University of Utah.
"I will provide legal representation for and give a voice to individuals who for generations have not been heard," she said.
E-mail: bwinslow@desnews.com; lthomson@desnews.com