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Show Layton youth pleads not guilty in shooting By GARY R. BLODGETT FARMINGTON A 17-year-old Layton youth who is being tried as an adult pleaded not guilty in Second District Court here last week to attempted murder of a Utah Highway Patrol officer last Aug. 8. Michael K. Polete, 17, of 610 East 2000 North, Layton, is charged with attempted murder of UHP Patrolman John Mitchell after Mitchell's patrol car was pelleted by "at least three shotgun blasts" as the patrolman pursued a fleeing vehicle. Jared Valentine, 18, of 631 East 2000 North, Layton, suspected of being an occupant in the fleeing car, is scheduled for arraignment on the same charge (attempted murder). He is free on $25,000 bond, while Polete remains in the custody of the Davis County Jail. Both are charged with firing shotgun shot-gun blasts into the front of Trooper Mitchell's patrol car as Trooper Mitchell was chasing the fleeing vehicle south of Fairfield Road. Pellets from the blasts punctured the patrol car's radiator, cracked the windshield, and blew out the rear window. Trooper Mitchell stopped his disabled dis-abled vehicle and went to a nearby home to seek aid. He was slightly injured from flying glass and debris. The two suspects were apprehended a week later near Elko, Nev. and returned to Utah for prosecution. Valentine waived preliminary hearing in Layton Circuit Court and was scheduled for an arraignment arraign-ment in Second District Court, Farmington, yesterday (Tuesday). Earlier, Attorney Stan Smedley, representing Polete, filed a motion in Second District Court in an attempt to have his client tried as an adult since he was still only 17 years of age. But Judge K. Roger Bean ruled that the defendant (Polete) was close to turning 18 years of age and because of the severity of the crime for which he is charged, Polete should be tried as an adult. Attempted first-degree murder is a first-degree felony charge and carries a prison term of five years to life because the attack (shooting) was against a law enforcement officer on duty. Mitchell said he used his red light and siren during the early morning chase last Aug. 8. |