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No charges will be filed against a convicted murderer who sent a razor blade from prison to a Utah County judge.
Mailing the razor blade was an accident, prosecuting attorney Chad Grunander said Thursday.
Ramon Somoza, 35, was accused of attaching a razor blade to legal documents sent in late April to 4th District Judge Lynn Davis.
But Grunander said that after investigators looked into the incident, they determined that the convicted killer — who is representing himself in court as he seeks a new trial — did not intend for the razor blade to be sent among the court papers in a manila envelope.
"He files a number of documents with the court, and he does not have access to white-out," Grunander said. "He cuts out small strips of paper [with a razor blade] that he uses as white-out if he makes a mistake."
Grunander said there wwere a number of razor blades found in Somoza's desk area at the prison, all of which had a piece of tape on the end that created a make-shift handle. The prosecutor added that several of the original documents that Somoza filed with the court had "those little teeny strips of white paper" pasted over his handwritten errors.
Somoza last week apologized to the judge in court, Grunander said, and Davis said he did not feel the need to recuse himself from the case. The prosecutor said they didn't file any charges because they could not prove Somoza had intentionally tried to threaten the judge.
Utah State Prison spokeswoman Brooke Adams said Thursday that prisoners can buy or be issued a razor for shaving, but said it is against the rules to alter it in any way. Adams would not specifically say whether Somoza was disciplined for taking apart his razor, saying only that the incident "was reviewed and appropriate action was taken."
Somoza was convicted in September 2011 of first-degree felony murder and other charges for the 2009 shooting death of 46-year-old Jesus Landin.
Somoza — who testified that he acted in self-defense when he shot Landin in the basement of the Apollo dance hall in American Fork — is asking for a new trial, arguing in court papers that his attorneys erred in several ways during his trial.
He is expected to be in court on July 15, where discussions over whether he will be allowed to have stand-by attorneys as he argues for a new trial.
Somoza also was found guilty at trial of obstruction of justice and desecration of a human body for leaving Landin's body in a basement for days before wrapping it in plastic and tape and dumping it in the desert near Wendover.
At trial, Somoza testified that he shot Landin after the man charged at him with a screwdriver. But prosecutors said Somoza plotted to kill Landin because he worried the man was trying to ruin his dance hall and events business.
Twitter: @jm_miller