Third District Judge Robin Reese on Wednesday denied a request by defense attorneys to admit any evidence regarding any sexual activity that a 14-year-old slaying victim might have engaged in.
Dan L. Petersen, 44, is charged with first-degree felony murder in the 1986 cold case.
Petersen's attorneys had sought to introduce evidence regarding any sexual activity involving Tiffany Hambleton, whose partially clad body was discovered in a ditch on the west side of Salt Lake City.
Reese closed the courtroom to the public and media while hearing arguments from lawyers for both sides. The judge then took about an hour to deliberate before making a ruling.
Later, prosecutor Kent Morgan said the motion for admission of such evidence was denied but said he could not comment any further because information on the topic was sealed by the judge.
The prosecutors say Petersen, 44, was the last person seen alive with the girl following a Feb. 18, 1986, rock concert and then a party at an apartment. They claim he lied about having any sexual contact with her and also insist that more modern DNA testing shows semen on a shirt she was wearing and other material from her fingernails links Petersen to the crime.
The girl's body was found March 31, 1986. She died from multiple stab wounds to her chest and neck.
Defense attorneys, however, say the physical evidence might show some sexual activity between the two, but that does not mean Petersen killed her. They also say they have an eyewitness who says he saw the girl alive and walking with a different man in downtown Salt Lake City days after the concert and after she supposedly had been killed.
Petersen is being held in the Salt Lake County Jail on $1 million bail. Reese also declined to reduce Petersen's bail.
E-mail: lindat@desnews.com