SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Attorney General's Office announced Friday it has negotiated a monetary settlement in a case against former Utah Highway Patrol trooper Lisa Steed.
The settlement for $200,000 is for costs and attorneys' fees, prosecutors said. A civil case against Steed, the Utah Highway Patrol and the state of Utah was partially resolved last week, but some plaintiffs in the case still had an active complaint against Steed until it was settled Friday, pending court approval, Utah Attorney General's Office spokeswoman Missy Larsen said.
Steed, the state of Utah and the UHP are protected from future lawsuits over the same issue, Larsen said.
"Ms. Steed and the Utah Highway Patrol continue to believe that her arrests were supported by probable cause, and therefore were valid under the Utah Constitution," Larsen said in a statement. "A settlement was made to avoid a lengthy trial and appeal of any jury verdict. … In essence, the settlement today allows everyone involved in this case, including Ms. Steed, to put this matter behind them and move forward."
Steed was fired in 2012 while under accusations she had falsified police reports and performed DUI arrests using dubious practices.
Utah attorney Robert Sykes also argued last year for a class action lawsuit against her, saying she had victimized 1,500 to 2,000 motorists dating back to 2006. A 2nd District Court judge denied his motion at the time, saying the circumstances of the thousands of stops were too widely varying to lump together into a single case.
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