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Ogden • An Ogden judge dismissed a lawsuit Monday filed by the ACLU of Utah, which sought to toss convictions of accused gang members who were charged with violating a now-defunct injunction that prevented identified Ogden Trece members from congregating in public.
Second District Judge Noel Hyde ruled Tuesday that the lawsuit — on behalf of lead plaintiff Daniel Lucero and seeking class-action certification — was not filed in a timely fashion. The judge ruled Lucero and his attorneys had one year from when the Utah Supreme Court threw out the injunction to file their claim for post-conviction relief. But Hyde said the lawsuit, filed Oct. 28, 2014, was 10 days too late.
During oral arguments Tuesday, attorneys argued about when the clock started ticking down to file the suit. Weber County prosecutors argued it was Oct. 18, 2013 — the date the Utah Supreme Court's ruling was dated. But John Mejia, the legal director for the ACLU of Utah, had argued the date should have been when the case was remanded back to the district court, in November 2013.
Mejia further argued that dismissing the lawsuit would be an "egregious injustice" against the more than 50 people who were slapped with a class B misdemeanor in the three-year period the injunction was in place.
"If I made a mistake [in filing late] and was ineffective in this, it would prejudice the entire class," Mejia said. "Because they will have that conviction on their record based on an invalidated order that never should have been issued ... These convictions should not be on these folks' records."
A class B misdemeanor conviction is punishable by up to six months in jail and a $500 fine.
Meija said after the hearing that he was "disappointed" in the ruling. He said attorneys will have to consider whether to file an appeal or whether the class-action lawsuit can be filed with a different lead plaintiff.
Weber County filed a lawsuit against the Ogden Trece gang in 2010, arguing that its members were a public nuisance. Along with preventing identified gang members from hanging out together in public, the injunction set an 11 p.m. curfew and prohibited the possession of weapons or graffiti tools, among other restrictions.
While Weber County prosecutors argued that the injunction was appropriate to curb gang crime in Ogden, defense attorneys for individuals targeted by the restrictions claimed it violated their constitutional rights.
The Utah Supreme Court ultimately tossed the case, not for a constitutional violation, but because of a service issue. They ruled that the county did not give notice to the gang by personally delivering a copy of the summons and complaint to "an officer or managing or general agent" of the gang.
Weber County Attorney Christopher Allred said in June that his office hopes to bring the gang injunction back after they work out those service issues.
Twitter: @jm_miller