Yes, the allegations against Salt Lake County's lead law-enforcer were wild.
Turns out, they also were untrue.
The Utah Attorney General's Office has found "no basis" to claims that District Attorney Lohra Miller allowed underage alcohol use, loud parties or unlawful day-care services at her South Jordan home - contrary to accusations circulated by two neighbors and an anonymous e-mail to major Salt Lake Valley news outlets.
"It is not a surprise," Miller responded Wednesday. "I knew there was nothing to the allegations to begin with."
Weary of neighbors' rumblings, the Republican D.A. sicced the Attorney General's Office on her own home last November. She denied wrongdoing and said the A.G.'s office - run by Mark Shurtleff, a fellow Republican who endorsed her candidacy - would put any "lies" to rest.
After a two-month probe, the state sided with Miller.
In a two-sentence statement submitted to Miller, investigators announced that they found no evidence of criminal activity.
"It was full-scale investigation," Attorney General spokesman Paul Murphy said Wednesday. "They talked to anybody and everybody and tried to find out if there was something that would result in criminal charges. They found nothing."
He insisted that Shurtleff's GOP leanings had nothing to do with the state's findings. According to Murphy, the office is an "equal opportunity prosecutor" of Republicans and Democrats alike.
Even with her name cleared, Miller doesn't plan to stick around her South Jordan neighborhood. The district attorney confirmed Wednesday that she has listed her home on the market and intends to move.
"Our family doesn't want to live under circumstances where we have neighbors who complain about everything," she said.
Miller was accused of disturbing the peace with rowdy late-night parties that one neighbor claimed left his cul-de-sac littered with fast-food wrappers and cigarette butts. An anonymous e-mailer even suggested the gatherings included underage drinking.
Miller also fought complaints about providing day-care services - consisting of her nanny's two children and one from her husband's work - in violation of the neighborhood's ban against home-based businesses that generate traffic.
The district attorney called the neighborhood spats and subsequent news coverage "unduly damaging" to her children. She characterized the state's investigation as vital to "making sure the office remains above reproach."
