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Posted: 7:17 PM- The Salt Lake County sheriff's office met with a controversial judge Friday to warn her about an Internet death threat posted Thursday and linked to a Web site dedicated to her ouster.
The Web site at http://www.firejudgelewis.com" Target="_BLANK">http://www.firejudgelewis.com - which is registered to an anonymous person or group - encourages people to vote against 3rd District Judge Leslie Lewis, who is up for retention on Nov. 7.
The Web site includes a link to a video of a court hearing on the Web site YouTube.com in which the judge berates then detains Kent Jacobsen, the brother of a defendant charged with a deer hunting violation, for challenging her assumptions about hunting.
As of Friday afternoon, at least 56 comments, mostly critical of Lewis, had been posted on the YouTube site.
One of the posters, named "cybyte," has taken the hostility to an apparently criminal level.
"Where is she?" cybyte wrote. "She needs to be killed? [sic] Someone post her address for anyone who dislikes her can get rid of this POS." POS is a common Internet abbreviation for "piece of sh--." Though most who posted comments on the YouTube site agreed the judge should be removed, at least one thought cybyte crossed the line.
"Congratulations," wrote the poster in response to the threat, "you've just managed to make this nutty judge look reasonable by comparison." The court received an anonymous tip Thursday about the threat and forwarded it the sheriff's office, said sheriff's spokesman Paul Jaroscak. The investigating officer wrote a report, and said it would be forwarded to the state Attorney General's Office's Internet Crimes Task Force.
Attorney General's Office spokesman Paul Murphy said Friday his office had not yet received the case.
Other than warning Lewis, there's not much the sheriff's office can do for her outside of the courthouse, Jaroscak said.
Sheriff's deputies provide security for judges while they are in the courthouse, "then make a recommendation to the judge . . . to make authorities aware in the area she lives if they don't feel secure," he said.
The anonymous master of the firejudgelewis.com Web site, which accuses the judge of bullying people and not letting them answer questions she poses to them, posted a note Friday discouraging posters from taking any physical action against the judge.
"The author of this site does not condone, encourage or advocate violence against Judge Lewis or anyone else," it says. "Unlike certain judges, the author of this site respects other human beings.
. . . Use the ballot box." In a statement released Thursday, Lewis said she was unaware of the Web site until she received a phone call about it from KSL News.
In regard to the Jacobsen matter, Lewis stated, "It's my obligation as a judge handling a criminal calendar to maintain control over my courtroom. I'm constrained by the Code of Judicial Ethics from engaging in further debate or making further comment." Kent Jacobson said Thursday he filed a complaint against Lewis with the Utah Judicial Conduct Commission in late March but has not heard whether the commission will act on his complaint.
lrosetta@sltrib.com" Target="_BLANK">lrosetta@sltrib.com pdelany@sltrib.com" Target="_BLANK">pdelany@sltrib.com