SALT LAKE CITY — Attorneys for former Utah cornerback Dominique Hatfield have filed a motion to strike the affidavit and statement of probable cause issued in support of prosecutor’s request for a warrant of arrest.
On Aug. 3, prosecutors filed an affidavit and statement of probable cause in support of arrest, and the 20-year-old California native was charged with assault, a class B misdemeanor.
Hatfield’s attorney, Greg Skordas, filed the motion to strike Monday afternoon.
According to the motion, Skordas "alleges that in 33 years of practice, he has never seen the Salt Lake County prosecutor’s office issue such a document. This attempt to begin litigating the case through the media is beneath the station of a prosecutor, and approaches violation of the Utah Rules of Professional Conduct.”
Instead of asking for an arrest warrant, Skordas said prosecutors were aware that he represented Hatfield and that he could “easily arrange Mr. Hatfield’s voluntary appearance.”
The motion also says Skordas was informed of the new charges when he “received copies from the press.”
“The affidavit and statement of probable cause in support of warrant of arrest is riddled with defects,” Skordas wrote. “It is fundamental that an affidavit cannot support a finding of probable cause if it fails to set forth the veracity and basis of knowledge of persons supplying hearsay information.”
The motion filed by Skordas said the person who signed the affidavit is “identified only by an illegible scribble and the descriptor ‘he’ in the affidavit’s opening sentence. While it is likely that the affiant is somehow affiliated with the Salt Lake City police or prosecutor’s office, that is not clear from the face of the document. The court cannot be required to guess which male human affiliated with Salt Lake City law enforcement is requesting a person’s arrest.”
Skordas said it also makes it “impossible to determine whether the mystery affiant is a credible source of information because the court does not know his identity.”
The motion also objects to the inclusion of information that “is irrelevant to the charged crime.”
“Relaying hearsay contained in some other document that is currently unavailable to counsel, the mystery affiant notes that Mr. Hatfield was 'rolling marijuana into a blunt' and was asked not to consume marijuana. Including the stylized reference to illegal drug use was unnecessary to allege that an assault occurred, and serves only to impugn Mr. Hatifeld’s character,” the motion states.
The final issue is Hatfield’s address. While charging documents say it is unavailable to them, Skordas’ motion said it is in the public record or available to them by calling the attorneys of record.
The motion asks that if the judge believes Hatfield needs to be rearrested on the new charge, that he be allowed to surrender because he is not a danger to the community.
“His arrest is unnecessary and would only serve the apparent goal of bringing more undeserved, prejudicial media attention to Mr. Hatfield and his case.”
Skordas asks that the court strike the affidavit and statement of probable cause in support of warrant of arrest, or in the alternative, issue a summons to appear in court to Mr. Hatfield.
Hatfield is scheduled for pretrial Sept. 21 on the assault charge, which stems from an incident alleged to have occurred at a party on July 5. He was dismissed from the football team before the assault charge was filed.
After practice Monday, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham clarified Hatfield’s status with the team.
“We’ve got to wait for the legal process to run its course,” Whittingham said. “The university process has its course with the second issue, and he’s going to be allowed to stay in school. But we’ve got to wait. The legal process is still ongoing with that.”
Hatfield’s trouble began when he was arrested and subsequently charged with aggravated robbery, a first-degree felony, and theft, a third-degree felony, both of which were dismissed when a video tape showed Hatfield was not the man identified by the victim as the robber.
Hatfield did win the right to re-enroll in the University of Utah.
Contributing: Dirk Facer
Twitter: adonsports
Email: adonaldson@deseretnews.com