This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2004, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
In sworn testimony, Salt Lake County's new chief executive alleges that Democratic District Attorney David Yocom vowed to "get" Republican County Mayor Nancy Workman - more evidence, her attorneys argue, that the charges against her should be dropped.
"As the case has progressed from investigation to prosecution, one thing has become patently obvious: The Salt Lake County district attorney set out on a mission to destroy the mayor politically or, in his words, 'to get her,' " Workman's attorneys wrote in a brief filed Tuesday in 3rd District Court.
Alan Dayton, a Workman appointee and now acting county mayor, swears in an affidavit that he had this exchange with Yocom after a public meeting last year:
Yocom: I can get her.
Dayton: On what?
Yocom: It doesn't matter. A mere investigation can ruin someone. I've seen it happen before.
Two other county officials - GOP Councilman Russell Skousen and mayor's office federal liaison Kristie Marshall - testify in court papers that Dayton repeated the conversation to them shortly thereafter.
Yocom says the conversation did not happen in that "context" and denies that he is out to get Workman.
"That was not the conversation I had with Dayton," Yocom said Tuesday night.
Tuesday's filing matches Workman's mantra that the Democratic district attorney is on a political vendetta.
The mayor, now on paid leave and seeking a second term, was charged with second- and third-degree felony misuse of public money after a bipartisan, independent panel of prosecutors found evidence to support charges.
Workman then aired television commercials, saying the case was "just politics." Yocom stepped aside and appointed attorney Michael Martinez as special prosecutor.
Yocom says that shows he has worked to ensure no conflict.
"I've done everything that is ethically right and professional," he said.
Workman's lawyers disagree.
"Mayor Workman submits that these proceedings already have become a circus and the only way to collapse the big top is to dismiss the criminal information . . . so that the case may be handled in a truly independent matter by a truly independent office," Greg Skordas and Jack Morgan Jr. wrote.
Skordas is the Democratic candidate for Utah attorney general.
Martinez called Workman's latest court brief "vicious."
"The thing that bothers me is these personal attacks," Martinez said. "Let's just deal with the facts."
He has requested a gag order in the case. Judge Robert Hilder will hear arguments Thursday on that motion and Workman's quest to remove Martinez and dismiss the case.
Workman faces a preliminary hearing Monday.
Several county officials and Workman's daughter, Aisza Wilde, are expected to testify in Monday's hearing, during which a judge will decide if the case should go to a jury.
The panel of prosecutors screening the case said Workman skirted laws by tapping Health Department funds to hire two successive bookkeepers at the South Valley Boys and Girls Clubs to give assistance to Wilde, the clubs' chief financial officer.
Workman's poll numbers perk up
Salt Lake County Mayor Nancy Workman appears to be climbing in voter support, according to a new poll commissioned by her party.
Workman, who had dropped to 12 percent in one poll after she was charged with two felonies of misuse of public money, is now at 23 percent, the new poll shows. Democrat Peter Corroon still leads the race with 42 percent.
Independent Merrill Cook is at 21 percent and 10 percent were unsure for whom they would vote Nov. 2, according to the Republican Party's Dan Jones & Associates poll conducted Sept. 21-25. The poll surveyed 361 registered voters and has an error margin of plus or minus 5.5 percentage points.
The Deseret Morning News and KSL-TV reported Sept. 11 that Workman had sunk to 12 percent. That's down from 37.8 percent in a mid-June Salt Lake Tribune poll, which preceded the criminal charges against the mayor.
- Thomas Burr