This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for the now-fired police chief of a Southern Utah town who is accused of making false statements against suspects in drug investigations.
Kevin Worlton, 47, will be in court on Oct. 5 for the hearing, where prosecutors will present evidence and a judge will decide whether there is probable cause for the former Escalante police chief — and its lone officer — to stand trial on two counts of second-degree felony false or inconsistent material statements and one misdemeanor count of official misconduct.
Investigators allege that while in the process of investigating five people involved in a drug case last December, Worlton submitted and swore to contradicting probable-cause statements.
In one statement, Worlton wrote that he did not give a suspect a Miranda warning, but that the female suspect, identified as D.S., "was not in custody" when she made incriminating statements. But in a different probable-cause statement for a warrant to search another Escalante home, Worlton allegedly wrote that statements made by D.S. were "post-Miranda."
While searching the home indicated in the second probable-cause statement, Worlton interviewed another woman.
Investigators said that in the interview, Worlton asked the woman whether a suspect identified only as J.R. was selling drugs or giving drugs to anyone, to which the woman replied she had "no clue."
But in J.R.'s arrest documents, Worlton allegedly wrote that the woman said J.R. had given marijuana to an acquaintance.
Worlton arrested six people in the two days surrounding the drug investigation on "charges ranging from first-degree felonies to class B misdemeanors," investigators wrote. Four of those suspects pleaded guilty less than a week later.
But, according to the allegations against Worlton, he wrote just one police report regarding all six cases — and only after the four suspects pleaded guilty.
Those four suspects were allowed to withdraw their guilty pleas, and in April, prosecutors dismissed their cases without prejudice, meaning they can re-file the charges in the future.
That same month, Garfield County prosecutors dismissed nearly a dozen other felony drug cases after Worlton refused to testify in those cases. According to court records, Worlton objected to the subpoenas, saying that testifying might violate his own rights against self-incrimination.
Garfield County Attorney Barry Huntington said recently that if Worlton, who was the lead officer in the cases, would not testify, he had no choice but to dismiss the cases.
The Escalante City Council voted to terminate Worlton's employment in March, three days after the charges were filed against him, according to council minutes.
He had been on paid leave since January, when the attorney general's office began its investigation.
The former chief is now running for Escalante City Council, according to a campaign website.
Twitter: @jm_miller