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Former Utah Attorneys General John Swallow and Mark Shurtleff were properly charged together and should face a joint trial, prosecutors argued Tuesday.
Deputy Salt Lake County Attorney Chou Chou Collins asked a 3rd District judge to deny Swallow's request that his case proceed separately from the corruption charges against Shurtleff.
State law says two people can be charged together if they "are alleged to have participated in the same act or conduct or in the same criminal episode," Collins wrote to Judge Elizabeth Hruby-Mills, who presides over the case.
Swallow's attorney, Stephen McCaughey, had argued that, under state law, a combined case was inappropriate.
Shurtleff's lawyer previously sought to separate the case as well.
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.
Shurtleff, the former three-term attorney general, 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.
Collins argued that since the two are jointly charged with engaging in a pattern of unlawful conduct, they should be tried together. She also said Swallow had failed to argue that he would be prejudiced by a joint trial.
McCaughey wrote in an email that once the defense knows the state's evidence for each charge, he will be able to argue whether Swallow would be denied a fair trial if the case remains one.
In a separate memo, Collins also wrote that under state law Swallow was not yet entitled to specific information on the evidence linked to each charge against him because a preliminary hearing has not been held.
Also on Tuesday, prosecutors and defense attorneys asked Hruby-Mills to postpone a Nov. 7 hearing to December.