SALT LAKE CITY — A state judge has told defense attorneys eager to get off the case that they no longer have to represent a man charged with capital murder in the 2007 killing of a Utah corrections officer.
In an eight-page ruling Tuesday, 3rd District Judge Paul Maughan chastised the Salt Lake County Legal Defenders Association for its handling of Curtis Allgier's nearly-4-year-old case and said the agency will be replaced.
LDA attorneys had thrice asked to be removed from the case, most recently citing trust issues and safety concerns. They had appealed Maughan's March refusal to release them to the Utah Supreme Court.
"While the court is now inclined to reverse its initial ruling, it does so not based on any legal ground, nor upon any evidentiary standard, but solely because the Legal Defenders Association has not moved this case in a meaningful fashion," the judge wrote. "It is this court's hope that new counsel will timely and diligently engage in this case and pursue it to a speedy resolution."
Maughan also said waiting for Utah's high court to consider LDA's request would have delayed Allgier's trial, which is set for May.
Allgier, a heavily tattooed white supremacist, has pleaded not guilty to capital murder in the shooting death of prison guard Stephen Anderson.
Anderson was shot with his own gun while escorting Allgier, 31, to a doctor's appointment at a University of Utah medical facility on June 26, 2007.
If convicted, Allgier faces the death penalty.
The Salt Lake County district attorney's office, which did not object to LDA's removal, had little to say about the ruling Wednesday.
"We'll do everything we can to facilitate a smooth transition when new counsel appears on the case," Assistant District Attorney Jeff Hall said.
But Hall said it's possible a trial may not be held in May. Maughan's ruling does not name a new defense attorney, nor have any new hearing dates been set in the case.
"There's no possible way" a trial can be held so soon, LDA attorney Ralph Dellapiana told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Apart from finding a death-penalty-qualified lawyer willing to take the case, there are close to 50 outstanding motions awaiting rulings from Maughan, and huge volumes of evidence provided by prosecutors have not yet been reviewed by defense attorneys, Dellapiana said.
"The things I mention are just the tip of the iceberg. It doesn't describe how much time is involved. Even just reading the case file will take forever," he said. "Maybe by May of next year there could be a trial."
LDA attorneys were dismayed that Maughan justified his decision by blaming them for case delays. Dellapiana said many of the contributing factors were beyond LDA's control, including an early conflict of interest and the speed with which prosecutors have provided copies of videotapes and other evidence.
"To say it's our fault does not comport with the record," he said.