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The charges against former Attorneys General Mark Shurtleff and John Swallow are different enough that they must be tried separately, lawyers for the two defendants told a judge Monday.
Third District Judge Elizabeth Hruby-Mills set a Nov. 7 hearing to consider motions from Swallow's and Shurtleff's attorneys to split the cases, as well as a motion from Shurtleff's lawyer, Richard Van Wagoner, asking the court to dismiss the charges against his client.
Van Wagoner said Monday that the allegations against Shurtleff are too vague and that, without specifics, the former three-term attorney general is unable to prepare a specific defense.
"The criminal information in this case is one of the worst I've seen in a white-collar case in terms of laying out the charges and giving a defendant notice," Van Wagoner said after the hearing Monday.
Without the details they need, Van Wagoner said, he has "asked the court to dismiss the outstanding counts and let the state take another crack at it if they want."
Swallow and Shurtleff were excused from attending Monday's scheduling hearing, since it was largely a procedural matter. Two FBI agents and an investigator from the Utah Department of Public Safety who spearheaded the probe were on hand to observe the hearing.
Swallow's attorneys, meantime, filed a motion Friday asking the court to order prosecutors to return $10,000 in cash seized from their client's Sandy home when officers executed a search warrant there last summer.
They, like Shurtleff's counsel, also are asking the judge to divide the cases against Swallow and Shurtleff, allowing the two former Republican officeholders to be tried separately, and asked the judge to direct prosecutors to give Swallow a point-by-point explanation of the charges against him.
Prosecutors have resisted Shurtleff's request to separate the two cases, saying that such a motion should be considered only after a preliminary hearing.
On Monday, Salt Lake County Deputy District Attorney Byron Burmester told the judge that a hearing was needed on the defendants' motions before a preliminary hearing is scheduled to determine whether Swallow and Shurtleff should be tried on the charges.
Van Wagoner said trying Shurtleff and Swallow together would taint the process and make it impossible for them to get a fair trial, without one case influencing the other.
"They're completely separate charges, separate cases, completely different counts based on separate facts," Van Wagoner said. "Therefore, it would be prejudicial to proceed for both defendants."
Prosecutors have provided Shurtleff and his counsel with a list of 56 witnesses it may call at a preliminary hearing, including investigators with the FBI and Utah Department of Public Safety; former top deputies and attorneys who worked with Shurtleff; key players in the scandal such as St. George businessman Jeremy Johnson and convicted businessman Marc Sessions Jenson; and investigators from the Utah House inquiry into misconduct in the attorney general's office.
Shurtleff is charged with 10 felonies, including receiving or soliciting bribes, accepting gifts, tampering with witnesses and evidence, and participating in a pattern of unlawful conduct.
Swallow, Shurtleff's handpicked successor, is charged with 11 felonies and two misdemeanors, including multiple counts of receiving or soliciting bribes, accepting gifts, tampering with evidence, obstructing justice and participating in a pattern of unlawful conduct.
Both men maintain they are innocent.
Twitter: @RobertGehrke