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Show Group cries 'foul' in hearing delay II By GARY R, BLODGETT FARMINGTON There was an outroar of "coverup" by a group of citizens when a Second District Court official announced that a scheduled court hearing for three Oavis County elected officials had Qfen postponed. Second District Judge Douglas L. Cornaby set a pre-trial hearing for Nov. 21 at 10 a.m. A hearing, if needed, will be held on Dec. 7 at 1:30 p.m. in Second District Court on the second floor of the Davis County Courthouse. A court spokesperson explained that Judge Cornaby became ill during dur-ing a law and motion session earlier in the afternoon and decided to get approval for the postponement from the attorneys involved. A telephone call was made to Attorney Reed Richards, representing repre-senting the proponents of the complaint, com-plaint, in Ogden, and they discussed discus-sed the matter with Davis County Attorneys Melvin C. Wilson and Gerald (Jerry) Hess on the court's speaker phone. A complaint seeking removal from office of three Davis County officials Commissioners Harold Tippetts and William (Bill) Peters and former Commissioner Glen Saunders was filed in Second District Court by a group of local residents. The complaint is being reviewed by Attorney Richards in Ogden, representing the Weber County Attorney's Office. r The civil complaint charges the trio with nine counts of various alleged violations, including misuse of public funds, malfeasance in office, and impeding the duties of County Auditor Ruth Kennington. It was explained that although the citizens' complaint is civil, rather than criminal in nature, it requires the county attorneys (or appointed attorney) to investigate and prosecute the case as if it were a criminal case. Upon hearing that the scheduled 4 p.m. meeting had been postponed until next month, several members of the citizens' group gathered in the courthouse corridor to express their feelings. "It's nothing but a coverup, another Davis Watergate," said one of the irate citizens. Another commented that she should have called the court before driving to Farmington because "I had a feeling that something like this would happen. It was all a political poli-tical move to delay things until after election." |
