This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2008, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
MANILA - Daggett County's voter-fraud scandal took a strange turn Friday when County Attorney Bryan Sidwell abruptly left the case in the wake of "prosecutorial misconduct" allegations before 20 more defendants could be arraigned.
Sidwell would not say whether he was forced from the case or quit.
The Utah Attorney General's Office now will step in or appoint another prosecutor. The office's spokesman, Paul Murphy, had no further comment Friday.
On Thursday, a defendant, Corby J. Raddon, filed a motion in Manila's 8th District Court accusing Sidwell of prosecutorial misconduct and seeking dismissal of the fraudulent-voter-registration charge he faces.
Raddon and six members of his family are among 51 charged with class A misdemeanors after the attorney general's investigation into the November 2006 election.
Those 51 may have been enough to swing a tight sheriff's race.
Former Daggett County Sheriff Alan Campbell had complained to state officials that the voter-registration rolls in this tiny east Utah county of 900 people were multiplying unexpectedly.
Campbell lost to Rick Ellsworth by 20 votes. Only 594 votes were cast.
The nail-biter election and voter-fraud charges have flared tempers and served as a source of embarrassment to residents of this rural county nestled between the Wyoming line and the north slope of the Uinta Mountains.
Daggett County is so small that it must appoint, rather than elect, its county attorney. The hubbub erupted again earlier this week when Commission Chairman Stewart Leith said commissioners would review Sidwell's employment.
The prosecutorial-misconduct motion, filed by Salt Lake City-based attorney Sam Harkness, states that Sidwell filed the charge against Raddon "even though he possessed evidence that exonerates" the defendant.
Sidwell, the motion continues, "also threatened witnesses favorable to the defendant with prosecution in an attempt to silence their testimony."
The county attorney said Friday he would have no comment until the fraud cases were adjudicated.
Seven members of the Raddon family pleaded innocent to voter fraud last month.
At that time, Harkness said although the Raddons listed their residence as Salt Lake County on tax forms, they own property in Daggett County and spend a great deal of time there.
Harkness said Daggett County authorities advised his clients they could vote in Manila. They were "acting in good faith."
But Daggett County Clerk Vicky McKee said she did not instruct anyone where they could or could not vote and simply provided a copy of state law to those who inquired whether part-time residency qualified.
"The Lieutenant Governor's Office said I did not have the authority to determine residency," she said Friday. "The lieutenant governor said the important thing was that they didn't vote twice."
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* MELINDA ROGERS contributed to this story.
In May, 18 defendants were arraigned on voter-fraud charges in Daggett County. Arraignments for the remaining 33 are scheduled for July 11 and Aug. 8.