“Have I done anything wrong? Not at all' - Employees say Utah County Attorney David Leavitt asked members of the office to go easy on a “handyman” who did masonry work at the county attorney’s family home in Orem.
Last week, Utah County Attorney David Leavitt was accused of inappropriately dismissing a stalking charge against a campaign donor who also served an LDS mission with Leavitt’s brother.
“I ran on the platform to change the culture of the Utah County Attorney’s Office,” Leavitt said. “Dale Bowles is a nonviolent guy who is just trying to get to work... That’s what the criminal justice system should be about.” Several employees have described a 2018 meeting in which Leavitt addressed the staff on his first week in office.
Sherry Ragan, a prosecutor who has since retired from the Utah County Attorney’s Office, said it was clear that Leavitt wanted his friend’s case to be treated leniently. Pona Sitake, the rookie prosecutor assigned to the Bowles case, said Leavitt’s meeting impacted the way the case was handled. He has since left the Utah County Attorney’s Office.“ probably would have had a different outcome,” Sitake said. “He didn’t tell me anything specific to do, but he made it clear from the stories... he didn’t want license to have further suspension added to it.”
In an interview with FOX 13 News, Leavitt defended his decision to discuss Bowles’ case with his staff as an example of a larger problem with the criminal justice system. Leavitt said the Utah County Attorney’s Office does not have a set policy to determine whether cases amount to a conflict of interest, but each case is examined by him and his staff on a case-by-case basis.
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