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San Juan County Commissioner Phil Lyman is no fan of federal government spending. But that did not stop him from asking for — and getting — a defense attorney paid for by U.S. taxpayers to fend off criminal charges stemming from the motorized protest he led into Recapture Canyon last spring.
Lyman led the May 10 ATV rally challenging federal control of public lands and the Bureau of Land Management's closure of the canyon just east of Blanding.
The county commissioner and four others who participated were charged in September with conspiracy and operating a motor vehicle in a closed area.
Now Utah's U.S. Attorney is questioning whether Lyman, a certified public accountant who gets a $50,000 compensation package as a part-time elected official, is financially eligible for court-appointed representation.
In papers filed Oct. 30 in U.S. District Court, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Huber asks Judge Robert Shelby to "conduct an appropriate inquiry into the financial circumstances of the defendant, hold him to his burden of establishing that he cannot afford to hire his own attorney, and then determine if appointment of counsel is appropriate at this time."
Lyman said the judge's decision to appoint counsel was based on "accurate information" he provided. He referred questions to federal attorney Kent Hart, who could not be reached Wednesday.
Recapture Canyon, where Ancestral Puebloans left a rich record of their occupation hundreds of years ago, has become a flashpoint in renewed tensions between local leaders and federal land managers.
San Juan County is preparing a suit against the BLM over delays in processing the county's application for a right-of-way through the canyon, which Lyman and others claim was an historic thoroughfare.
"I don't care what the answer is, but give us an answer," commission chairman Bruce Adams said Wednesday. "Nine years? Give us an answer and we can go on with our lives."
Acting U.S. Attorney Carlie Christensen charged Lyman and four other local men suspected of organizing or promoting the May protest on Sept. 17. Some 50 riders, including several armed supporters of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, drove into the canyon.
The men have been charged with misdemeanor conspiracy charges and operating a motorized vehicle in an area closed to such use, offenses that carry penalties of up to one year in jail and $100,000 in fines. Their trial is set to start Dec. 22.
The other four defendants have hired private attorneys.
Lyman, who was re-elected Tuesday to his commission seat in an unopposed race, has argued the BLM illegally closed Recapture in 2007 and has taken far too long to act on the county's right-of-way application.
"The biggest threat we face as a county is a federal government whose spending is out of control. Yet we continue to watch as productive industries are regulated out of business and productive public land is locked up," he wrote in his candidate biography for a voter information pamphlet.
At his initial court appearance Oct. 17, Lyman told Magistrate Evelyn Furse he was not sure how he wanted to proceed with his defense. Nor was he certain whether he would retain a lawyer. The court accepted his confidential affidavit detailing his personal finances and offered the services of a federal public defender for purposes of the hearing.
A government defense lawyer has since indicated his office will represent Lyman throughout the proceedings, according to Huber.
But Huber's review of publicly available information suggest Lyman would not be an appropriate candidate for a taxpayer-funded service reserved for the indigent.
"According to a social media profile, the defendant is the owner of a [certified public accounting] professional corporation that self-proclaims on its website to be the 'Four Corners area's premier tax preparation service firm,'" Huber wrote in his filing. "Finally, the defendant advertises himself as a financial planner who owns an investment company. In a third-party investment adviser listing, the defendant's investment company shows as controlling $2.3 million in assets."
Prior to the ride, Lyman asked fellow commissioners Adams and Kenneth Maryboy for the county's backing for the protest, but they declined, emphasizing Lyman was acting as a private citizen. Adams said Lyman has not "officially" asked the commission to help cover his legal costs.
But Adams supports Lyman's cause. Last June, the commissioners passed a resolution that "claims a valid existing right-of-way" in Recapture, essentially voiding the canyon's closure. They later voted to authorize a lawsuit over BLM's management of the canyon.
Maryboy, a leader in the Navajo community, opposed the measures.
BLM has been conducting an Environmental Assessment of the proposed right-of-way, but progress has been slowed by the illegal ride because the agency had to shift resources to assess whether riders damaged archaeological sites, according to spokeswoman Megan Crandall.
"There is a lot that went into this. It has taken some time. We have to cross the T's and dot the I's," Crandall said. "The American taxpayers have the right to expect it."