Media
Nester Lewis – In the News
Man who caused fatal DUI crash sentenced to time served, probation
By Emily Ashcraft, KSL.com | Posted - July 17, 2023 at 10:34 p.m. SALT LAKE CITY — A daughter and a wife shared memories Monday of the man who left their lives too soon. They said the justice system is flawed when a man can cause a death by making a choice to do drugs...
Charges dropped for 75-year-old woman accused of hiring hit man
SALT LAKE CITY — Charges against a Herriman woman accused of hiring a hit man were dismissed on Nov. 10 after the state's attorneys were not ready to move forward with a jury trial. Linda Tracy Gillman, 75, had been charged with two counts of criminal solicitation, a...
Utahn working with DEA sought to tip off suspect about wiretap, but not for obvious reasons
SALT LAKE CITY – A longtime interpreter who used to work on federal narcotics cases in Utah admitted he tried to warn a suspect last year about a wiretap, but not to protect any criminal network or for a kickback. No one disputes it was a bad idea. But all parties...
Disney channel actor gets 2-yr sentence in plea deal…
Stoney Westmoreland, famous for his work on the Disney Channel, will spend a couple years in federal lockup after prosecutors say he tried to entice a minor into sex. The actor struck a deal in the case ... pleading guilty to a lesser charge of using interstate...
Defenders work to ensure due process amid pandemic
Of the many challenges that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has imposed on the ongoing operations of federal courts, some of the toughest are being faced by federal defenders, who are on the front lines working to overcome unprecedented threats to their clients’...
Conflict arises in Poway synagogue shooting suspect’s defense
SAN DIEGO — More than a year into the prosecution of the man accused of firing on a Poway synagogue — killing one person and injuring three others — a conflict of interest has arisen on his defense team. Federal Defenders of San Diego notified the judge last week...
Ex-Disney actor: Judge in sex crime case has anti-gay bias
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A former Disney Channel actor charged with trying to have sex with a 13-year-old boy in Salt Lake City contends he can’t get a fair trial because the judge handling his case is biased against gay people. An attorney for actor Stoney Westmoreland...
Lives in the Law: Kathy Nester
Lives in the Law with Kathy Nester, Executive Director, Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. Kathy Nester’s talk, which is free and open to the public, is entitled “Federal Public Defense on the Border.” Nester will address the impact of the current immigration crisis...
Justice Center Hosts Kathy Nester ’92, Executive Director, Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc.
The Law School’s William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law and Career Services Office recently hosted Kathy Nester, Executive Director of Federal Defenders of San Diego, Inc. (FDSD), as the fall 2019 “Lives in the Law” speaker. Nester leads a staff of over...
Utah’s ‘Free Capitalist’ Rick Koerber jailed over new accusations of fraud involving an Oregon court
SALT LAKE CITY -- Rick Koerber walked into the federal courthouse on Friday, but he didn't walk out. Instead, a federal magistrate judge ordered him jailed over new accusations of fraud. Koerber, who was convicted last year in what federal prosecutors allege was one...
Defendant in David Heisler kidnapping, murder case to serve 75-year sentence
ST. GEORGE — A suspect in the June 2016 abduction of David Heisler, whose body was discovered a month later in a remote area of the Arizona Strip, will serve 75 years in prison after accepting a plea deal in federal court Wednesday. Francis Lee McCard, 56, of...
Lyle Jeffs, who lawyers say may have a brain injury, appears in a Utah courtroom
Attorneys for Lyle Jeffs — the last and best known defendant in what prosecutors say was the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints effort to scam a federal welfare program — told a judge Thursday that he has memory problems, and those problems...
Defendant in David Heisler kidnapping case to be federally indicted; death penalty on table
ST. GEORGE — Nine months after 30-year-old David Heisler was abducted from his Santa Clara home and left for dead on the Arizona Strip, the three suspects believed by authorities to have perpetrated the abhorrent and shocking crime appeared in court. A review hearing...
Missing suspect gone in the miracle of Rapture, or was it family rupture?
Where, oh where, has Lyle Jeffs gone? He’s the brother of Warren Jeffs, the autocratic guru of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who is serving a life term in federal prison for sexually assaulting his “child brides.” When Lyle Jeffs...
FLDS members will argue religious right to hand over food stamps in fraud case
SALT LAKE CITY — In a new court filing, lawyers for Fundamentalist LDS Church bishop Lyle Jeffs and others charged in a massive welfare fraud scheme indicate they will push forward with claims of a religious right to hand over food stamps to the polygamous church....
Federal defenders potentially excluded from historic clemency drive
Six months after the Justice Department called on defense lawyers to help it identify and vet candidates for its clemency drive, there is concern that the federal defenders — whom the DOJ invited in as key partners — might never have been authorized to participate in...
Troy James Knapp, Utah ‘Mountain Man’ gets decade sentence
Troy James Knapp lived for years in the wilderness of Utah, avoiding people and eating small game he shot with weapons stolen during cabin break-ins. Sometimes, he'd raid the pantry and rumple the bed sheets before setting out alone again on snowshoes with a rifle...
Mortensen sentenced to probation for holding guns of slain father
Courts • Roger Kay Mortensen was exonerated in killing of ex-BYU professor. A Payson man wrongly accused of killing his father in Utah County nearly two years ago was ordered to 36 months of probation after pleading guilty to a separate gun crime in federal court....
Prosecution’s last witness takes stand in Brian David Mitchell trial
SALT LAKE CITY — The prosecution's key expert witness in the trial of Brian David Mitchell, accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart, does not believe the former street preacher's alleged religious beliefs are sincere and he is not mentally ill. Dr. Michael Welner...
Utah kidnapping suspect’s medical problem prompts trial delay
(CNN) -- The federal trial of Brian David Mitchell, charged in connection with the 2002 kidnapping of Utah teenager Elizabeth Smart, was halted Tuesday after Mitchell suffered a medical problem in court, according to CNN affiliate KSTU. KSTU posted a picture on its...
Prosecutors respond to Mitchell’s latest appeal
SALT LAKE CITY — Federal prosecutors filed a response to the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals late Thursday saying that Brian David Mitchell's last-minute appeal to have his kidnapping trial stayed is "moot," as a jury has already been empaneled. However, defense...
The Elizabeth Smart trial hits a snag
Brian David Mitchell's trial for the abduction of Elizabeth Smart came to an abrupt halt in Salt Lake City on Thursday at approximately 10:30 a.m., three minutes into the defense's opening statements. The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver had just granted a stay...
Fair-Weather Friends
Indicted businessman Rick Koerber is finding it hard to count on friends in high places. On May 29, Rick “The Free Capitalist” Koerber stood flanked by friends and supporters at a press conference to assert his innocence of federal charges of tax evasion, mail and...