SALT LAKE CITY — Former Utah Senate Majority Leader Sheldon Killpack has decided to drop his case challenging the state's suspension of his driver's license.
In court documents filed last week by Killpack's attorney, Ed Brass, he asks that Killpack's case be dismissed with prejudice, which means he will not be able to again pursue a similar appeal. Third District Judge John Paul Kennedy then issued an order dismissing the case, citing the agreement made between attorneys to have the case dismissed.
Killpack, 42, had his driver's license suspended for 18 months after he refused to take a breath test when he was pulled over in January by a Utah Highway Patrol trooper who suspected the Syracuse Republican had been driving under the influence.
His blood-alcohol level was shown to be 0.11; the legal limit in Utah is 0.08. He resigned from the Legislature the day after his arrest. Killpack was charged with DUI, a class B misdemeanor, and failure to signal, a class C misdemeanor, in connection with the stop, which took place near 700 East and 3300 South on Jan. 15.
He appealed the driver's license suspension in March, and a bench trial was scheduled for Sept. 17, but the case was instead dismissed.
"We treated (Killpack) the way we treat everyone else," said Paul Murphy, spokesman for the Utah Attorney General's Office, which represented the state Driver License Division in the case. "We treat legislators and truck drivers the same."
There was some controversy over the challenging of the traffic stop when it was revealed that Brass sent an e-mail to a friend of his in the Attorney General's Office stating: "Sheldon thinks you might be able to persuade (Attorney General Mark) Shurtleff to help (with) the length of his license suspension. Anything to that?"
Brass made it clear, however, that he was not seeking special treatment for his client and was simply trying to see if there was a way to reduce Killpack's 18-month suspension for refusing the breath test, noting that in comparison, a first-time DUI conviction carries only a four-month suspension.
A trial in Killpack's DUI case is set for Nov. 10.
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