In a recording, Utah County Attorney David Leavitt can be heard telling a woman that her alleged stalker was a political donor who went on a church mission with his brother. He later dismissed the case.
Utah County Attorney David Leavitt, a candidate for Utah Attorney General for the Republican Primary, joins candidate Sean Reyes in a debate at KUED, Tuesday, June 2, 2020. Leavitt, who was unsuccessful in his bid for attorney general, was sued Tuesday after he dismissed a criminal case for a man who donated to his campaign.Alicia Koehler just wanted her case to go to trial. She had been stalked for years, she told police.
Leavitt ended up dismissing the third-degree felony case against the man Koehler accused, though it was refiled a year later. The complaint filed Tuesday accuses Leavitt of engaging in “illegal, discriminatory and abhorrent conduct” to benefitLeavitt, who has served as the Utah County attorney since 2019, told The Salt Lake Tribune on Tuesday that he does not believe he did anything improper, noting that the campaign donation from the man was less than $50.
Utah County prosecutors alleged three years later that the man had violated that injunction, and he was charged with a third-degree felony. Court records show the man sent an unsolicited email to Koehler in December 2018, which included excerpts including, “very hard for me to understand how hard you have been on me … You have made me out to be the demon … Why you have despised me and ruined my hope for happiness, unknown.
Leavitt said the binder had come from his brother, who had served a mission with the defendant. Leavitt hadn’t read it, he said, but passed it on to Bastian to review. “It was extremely unusual for him to take on a case like this,” Bastian said in an interview. “He did not carry any kind of regular caseload.”
“I was a career prosecutor,” Bastian said. “And I probably would have stayed there my whole career but for David Leavitt coming in.”Koehler found out through a victim advocate that Leavitt had taken over the stalking case. She recalled in an interview that she immediately felt concerned, noting that she had seen her accused stalker post comments on Leavitt’s Facebook page in support of the county attorney’s reform policies.
Leavitt also suggested dropping the felony charge against the man on the condition that he would be barred from contacting Koehler or speaking about her online. If the man ever did, prosecutors would refile the case, he said.“I didn’t feel at any time that he was looking out for my best interests,” she said. “Period.”
Koehler’s lawyer alleged this was manipulation — a move done to encourage her into believing that a jury trial would not be in her best interest. The lawsuit alleges that the man used the expungement petition as a platform to defame and abuse her — harm that the complaint argues came as a result of Leavitt’s decision to initially dismiss the criminal case.
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