PRISON - The Salt Lake Tribune

Jurors deadlock on Jodi Arias penalty; retrial set

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:05:14 MDT

Jurors deadlock on Jodi Arias penalty; retrial set

By BRIAN SKOLOFF and JOSH HOFFNER The Associated Press

Updated May 23, 2013 06:05PM MDT

Phoenix • The jury in Jodi Arias’ murder trial was dismissed Thursday after failing to reach a verdict against the woman they convicted of murdering her one-time boyfriend in a case that captured headlines worldwide with its sex, lies, violence. A new panel likely will be seated to try again to reach a decision on a sentence — unless the prosecutor takes death off the table agrees to a life sentence. The judge scheduled a retrial for July 18. “Sorry,” one female juror mouthed to the family of th...

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Utah man sentenced to prison for sexual assaulting minor he met online

Thu, 23 May 2013 23:07:15 MDT

Utah man sentenced to prison for sexual assaulting minor he met online

By Jessica Miller The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 23, 2013 11:07PM MDT

A 27-year-old Cedar City man was sentenced to prison Wednesday for raping a minor he met on a social media website. Andrew Anthony Lue pleaded guilty to forcible sexual abuse, enticing a minor and sexual exploitation of a minor, all second-degree felonies, as well third-degree felony of dealing in harmful material to a minor. On Wednesday, 5th District Judge Michael Westfall ordered the man to spend one to 15 years in prison for each of the second-degree felony and up to five years in prison fo...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Jury deciding Arias’ sentence adjourns for day

Wed, 22 May 2013 17:59:45 MDT

Jury deciding Arias’ sentence adjourns for day

By BRIAN SKOLOFF and JOSH HOFFNER The Associated Press

Updated May 22, 2013 05:59PM MDT

Phoenix • Jurors in the Jodi Arias murder trial said Wednesday they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether she should be sentenced to life in prison or death for killing her one-time boyfriend, prompting the judge to instruct them to keep trying. The jury reported its impasse after only about two and a half hours of deliberations. Judge Sherry Stephens told jurors to try to identify areas of agreement and disagreement as they work toward a decision. The jurors then continued deliber...

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Jury weighing Jodi Arias’ fate adjourns for day

Tue, 21 May 2013 21:07:50 MDT

Jury weighing Jodi Arias’ fate adjourns for day

By BRIAN SKOLOFF The Associated Press

Updated May 21, 2013 09:07PM MDT

Phoenix • Jodi Arias begged jurors Tuesday to give her life in prison, saying she “lacked perspective” when she told a local reporter in an interview that she preferred execution to spending the rest of her days in jail. Standing confidently but at times her voice breaking, Arias told the same eight men and four women who found her guilty of murdering her one-time boyfriend that she planned to use her time in prison to bring about positive changes, including donating her hair to be made into wig...

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Utah man gets prison for shooting, killing his father

Tue, 21 May 2013 06:56:35 MDT

Utah man gets prison for shooting, killing his father

By jessica miller The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 21, 2013 06:56AM MDT

Farmington • When Joseph Nance shot and killed his father on March 19, 2011, the act tore their family apart. Nance’s sisters believe their brother acted in self-defense — snapping after suffering years of physical abuse at the hands of their father, 52-year-old Gregory Nance. Other family members, including Gregory Nance’s brother and parents, think the 30-year-old Joseph Nance should have been convicted of murder. “The family is split on what they should see happen,” said prosecutor Brandon P...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Steve Powell’s not getting out of prison next week

Fri, 17 May 2013 07:04:21 MDT

Steve Powell’s not getting out of prison next week

By Michael McFall The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 17, 2013 07:04AM MDT

Steve Powell, father-in-law of Susan Powell, will not be released early until the prison approves his plans for life on the outside. Powell was sentenced for voyeurism for recording images of two neighbor girls in their bathroom last year. He’s eligible for early release on May 23, but prison officials are still in the process of approving his offender release plan. “That is a plan for where you’re going to live, how you’re going to support yourself, what treatments available ... an offender su...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Idaho man gets prison for beating zoo monkey to death

Thu, 16 May 2013 12:04:07 MDT

Idaho man gets prison for beating zoo monkey to death

By TODD DVORAK The Associated Press

Updated May 16, 2013 12:04PM MDT

BOISE, Idaho • An Idaho man convicted of breaking into a Boise zoo and beating to death a Patas monkey will spend up to a year in state prison, where he’ll take part in a treatment program. A state judge sentenced 22-year-old Michael Watkins on Thursday for his role in the Nov. 17 crime that caused shock and outrage in Idaho’s capitol city and beyond. Watkins gave a brief statement before sentencing, apologizing for his actions. Fourth District Judge Lynn G. Norton rejected defense attorney requ...

Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Abortion doc

Thu, 16 May 2013 08:03:52 MDT

Abortion doc

Updated May 16, 2013 08:03AM MDT

Re “Convicted Philadelphia abortion doctor gets life in prison” (Tribune, May 15): I was pleased to see your paper cover the conviction and sentencing of abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell for first-degree murder for killing with scissors babies who were delivered alive. It surprised me that coverage of this murderer’s trial was virtually ignored by most newspapers (including The Tribune) and other media in this country, despite the absolutely gory details of what this animal did to these babies. ...

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Restaurant empire gone, Kwon awaits prison

Tue, 14 May 2013 19:08:02 MDT

Restaurant empire gone, Kwon awaits prison

By dawn house The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 14, 2013 07:08PM MDT

Gene Kwon, once one of the Wasatch Front’s most prominent restaurateurs, was in the Salt Lake County jail Tuesday awaiting a spot in prison, his business empire only a memory. Several years after he entangled friends and others in a trail of fraudulent loans, Kwon, 45, was sentenced last week to one to 15 years on his guilty pleas to one count of theft, three counts of securities fraud and a pattern of unlawful activity, all second-degree felonies. Third District Judge Judith Atherton ordered...

Utah man vindicated after serving 15 years for child sexual abuse

Wed, 15 May 2013 09:45:32 MDT

Utah man vindicated after serving 15 years for child sexual abuse

By Janelle Stecklein The Salt Lake Tribune

Updated May 15, 2013 09:45AM MDT

Kevin Peterson’s case is full of contradictions. He did it. He didn’t do it. Then he did. But just days before his 55th birthday in late December, Peterson, who finished serving a 15-year sentence for the alleged crime in 2007, was cleared unequivocally of all wrongdoing after his kids recanted their allegations that he sexually abused them. While four people have been declared factually innocent since Utah’s law went into effect in May 2008, Peterson’s finding is only the second case uncontest...

Convicted Philadelphia abortion doctor gets life in prison

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:19:57 MDT

Convicted Philadelphia abortion doctor gets life in prison

By MARYCLAIRE DALE The Associated Press

Updated May 15, 2013 10:19AM MDT

Philadelphia • A Philadelphia abortion doctor convicted of killing three babies who were born alive in his grimy clinic agreed Tuesday to give up his right to an appeal and faces life in prison but will be spared a death sentence. Kermit Gosnell, 72, was convicted Monday of first-degree murder in the deaths of the babies who were delivered alive and killed with scissors. In a case that became a flashpoint in the nation’s abortion debate, former clinic employees testified that Gosnell routinely p...

O.J. Simpson returns to Las Vegas court in bid for new trial

Mon, 13 May 2013 13:22:30 MDT

O.J. Simpson returns to Las Vegas court in bid for new trial

By KEN RITTER The Associated Press

Updated May 13, 2013 01:22PM MDT

LAS VEGAS • The shackles and blue prison garb seemed to weigh down O.J. Simpson as he returned to a Las Vegas courtroom on Monday to ask for a new trial in the armed robbery-kidnapping case that sent him to prison in 2008. Looking grayer and heavier, the 65-year-old former football star and TV pitchman was flanked by guards as he nodded and raised his eyebrows to acknowledge people he recognized in the audience. A marshal had warned onlookers not to try to communicate with Simpson, and no words ...