Eagle Mountain City is asking the Utah Supreme Court to accept an appeal in its lawsuit from former mayor Brian Olsen.
Olsen is suing the city for reimbursement of his legal fees that resulted from a criminal case against him. Olsen was charged with seven counts of misusing public funds and was acquitted by a jury in September 2008. He is asking to be reimbursed under a Utah law that says public officials who are prosecuted and acquitted are entitled to be reimbursed for their legal defense.
In August, Judge David Mortensen refused to throw out Olsen's lawsuit, in which he is asking to be reimbursed for $119,000 in attorney's fees. Gerald Kinghorn, who is representing the city, filed the motion to dismiss because he said Olsen did not file the claim for reimbursement in time. He is now asking the Utah Supreme Court to accept an appeal of Mortensen's decision. Kinghorn said the statute in question is troublesome and should be looked at.
"The court noted that taken together, the 'statutes' at issue are 'clumsily written,' " Kinghorn wrote in his petition. "Further, the court noted that it can 'mean more than one thing.' "
Kinghorn said that while the statute can mean more than one thing, Olsen still did not follow the guidelines for filing a claim. The former mayor should have filed his claim for reimbursement within 10 days of being charged or within 10 days of being acquitted, he said. Instead, Olsen filed the claim several months after he was found not guilty at trial.
"He doesn't think that any time period applies to him," Kinghorn said.
In his petition for the appeal, Kinghorn notes that the governmental immunity act is written in a way to include the government in the process when a public employee is prosecuted. The governmental entity involved was meant to have a hand in the legal process in order to control costs and evaluate claims associated with the prosecution.
"Obviously, legal fees may be substantial and a governmental entity would necessarily include such items in its budget process," he wrote.
Olsen's attorney, David Eckersley, said he was not expecting the city to try to appeal the judge's decision. He said the Supreme Court generally hesitates to take interlocutory appeals unless the appeal can significantly speed up a case. An interlocutory appeal is one that appeals a ruling made before a trial. Once the interlocutory issue is resolved, the case will continue in district court.
"I think that it's unlikely that the Supreme Court will take it, but you never know," he said.
If the court does take the case, Eckersley said he believes Olsen has a strong case. However, he said an appeal would slow down the lawsuit's progress significantly. He has not spoken to Olsen about the possible appeal, Eckersley said, but delays in the case are certainly frustrating.
Posted in Local, Eagle-mountain on Tuesday, October 20, 2009 12:30 am Updated: 3:35 pm. | Tags: Eagle Mountain
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