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A Uintah County judge who was presiding over the criminal case of a former nurse accused of sexually abusing a surgery patient has recused himself this week after questions over the validity of an arrest warrant were raised.
Eighth District Judge Samuel Chiara announced his recusal on Tuesday, after attorneys have been battling for about a year on whether statements made by Joshua Platte Shumway can be allowed at his trial, which has not yet been scheduled.
Shumway, now 28, was charged in December 2013 with three counts of forcible sexual abuse, object rape, forcible sodomy, threat of violence and three counts of tampering with a witness. All but one of the charges are felonies, and if convicted of forcible sodomy, he could face up to life in prison.
The alleged victim told police that on April 16, 2013, she was staying overnight at the Uintah Basin Medical Center after surgery. During the night, a male nurse came into her room and sexually assaulted her on five occasions, according to police.
Shumway's defense attorney has been fighting for the last year to have "incriminating oral and written statements" suppressed. In a 2014 motion, attorney Gregory Lamb argues that Shumway was coerced into giving incriminating statements after several hours of police interrogation.
Lamb claims Roosevelt Police Detective Pete Butcher lied to Shumway, telling him that non-existent semen samples, DNA, and fingerprints tied the former nurse to the assault. The detective further "capitalized" on Shumway's beliefs as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to coerce a confession, the attorney claims in the motion.
According to the defense motion, the detective told Shumway that he needed to confess to the crimes and "purify" himself. After hours of denial during the police interview, Lamb said his client then asked to pray.
In the prayer, he asked God to "clarify the mind … that the truth may be told and that I may move past whatever sins and offenses have been done."
After continual questioning — with Butcher repeatedly telling the suspect that he is certain that he committed the crimes — Shumway finally admits that he "must have done it," but tells the detective he can't remember the incident or any details, according to the defense motion.
"I want to make it to celestial glory, I do," Shumway tells the detective, according to an excerpt included in the defense motion. "With every fiber of my being. I just don't know what to tell you."
At the end of the interview, the detective encourages Shumway to write a letter of apology to the alleged victim, according to Lamb. The defense attorney is also asking for this letter to be barred from trial.
Deputy Duchesne County Attorney Grant Charles argued in a response motion that the statements were not involuntary and that Shumway's free will was not overcome by Butcher's interview tactics.
"He made statements, including an apology, but never did he clearly confess," Charles wrote.
After a 2014 suppression hearing regarding the police interview, Lamb asked for the arrest warrant and any evidence that stemmed from that warrant to be suppressed, arguing that Butcher never had the alleged victim identify Shumway in a photo line-up and that the only thing that tied the nurse to the crime was that he was working at the hospital that night and had administered medication to the alleged victim once.
Charles wrote in a response motion that the detective did not misrepresent facts, and never said the alleged victim had identified Shumway as the perpetrator. It is the judge that signs that warrant that must decide whether there is probable cause for the warrant, Charles added.
In his Tuesday recusal, Judge Chiara wrote that he had "significant concern" that his impartiality could be questioned because he was the judge who signed the warrant for Shumway's arrest. Though Shumway's defense attorney did not specifically blame the judge, Chiara wrote that the inherent issue is whether he "erred in issuing the warrant."
"If, as it appears in this case, the court erred in issuing the warrant, any decision the court makes would be tainted by inference that the court's ruling, in some way, is an attempt to compensate for its error," Chiara wrote.
Chiara further wrote that neither party had asked for the recusal.
"...Perhaps the Court could have recognized the issue sooner," the judge wrote. "However, the issue only now came into full focus when the Court attempted to formulate a ruling."
The case has been referred to the 8th District presiding judge, and no further court dates have been set.
Shumway voluntarily surrendered his nursing license in December 2010, according to an order filed by the Utah Department of Professional Licensing (DOPL).
Shumway agreed that findings of fact made by DOPL — specifically that he "touched a patient in an inappropriate sexual manner on more than one occasion while working at a Utah hospital" — constitute unprofessional conduct. Shumway, however, neither admitted nor denied the allegation, according to the order.