| OCR Text |
Show No Charges Will Be Filed In Long Investigation ESCALANTE A former mayor, justice court judge, former city clerk and former court clerk were exonerated of any suspicion of guilt when Garfield County Attorney Wallace Lee concluded he agreed . with investigating Deputy Monte Luker that no evidence of criminal wrong doing exists to bring charges against them. The decision came more than a year after the alleged infractions took place. In June 1996, former Esca-lante Esca-lante Police Chief Keith Mcintosh Mcin-tosh filed a complaint with Garfield Gar-field County Attorney Wallace Lee alleging official misconduct on the part of former Escalante Mayor Wade Barney, Justice Judge Al Barlow and city clerks Dorothy Simpson and Vickie Schulkoski. The complaint centered cen-tered on a citation written by the chief which he alleged was improperly handled by the four. Lee looked into the allegations alle-gations and then turned the matter over to Sheriff Than Cooper who appointed Deputy Monte Luker to investigate the charges. Luker conducted taped interviews with the four in early 1997 and reported he could find no evidence of criminal wrong doing (See No Charges Will Be Filed In Investigation on Page 6A) No Charges Will Be Filed In Long Investigation From Page 1 that could warrant pursuing charges. After reviewing Luker's tapes, Lee agreed, and, on July 2, wrote a letter of explanation for his decision to Luker, Barlow, Barney, Escalante City and Escalante's new Police Chief Ryan Horton. Lee concluded his letter with the following advice and warning to city officials: "No city elected official should be involved in taking criminal citations from the court. If a city officer wished to discuss a case with the judge, such discussion could easily take place without having possession of the citation. When any elected official takes a citation from court records, it easily leads to the assumption that wrong doing is taking place. "I also counsel elected officials to avoid the appearance of impropriety, and to never take custody of any court document without permission of the court. It would be wise for the judge not to pay fines. While payment of fines by a judge is technically legal, such payments may lead to a public perception of impropriety which is damaging to public trust in the judicial system." |
