This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A federal judge has vacated the five-week criminal trial scheduled to begin in September against St. George businessman Jeremy Johnson after attorneys on both sides asked that it be postponed.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul Warner signed an order Tuesday, stating that, while he was vacating the trial set to begin Sept. 14, it was not for the reasons stated in the motion requesting postponement. Lawyers had cited, among other issues, the complexity of the case. The reasons, Warner wrote, instead would be discussed at an Aug. 7 hearing.
The motion agreed to by both defense attorneys for the five defendants and federal prosecutors was the result, sources have said, of the pending withdrawal from the case of Johnson's court-appointed attorney, Ron Yengich. The motion, , however, made no direct mention of Yengich's status.
Johnson and four other defendants face 86 charges related to allegations of bank fraud, though prosecutors have said some of the charges will be dropped before any trial. Johnson also is a central player in the criminal corruption cases against former Utah Attorneys General Mark Shurtleff and John Swallow.
— Tom Harvey