This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Salt Lake Tribune does not have the right to see investigative records from the Utah Attorney General's Office pertaining to allegations that Beaver County Sheriff Cameron Noel choked a potential witness in a May 2014 murder case, a state panel decided Thursday.
Members of the state Records Committee voted 4-2 against ordering release of the records in the wake of the AG's disclosure that the case is the subject of an ongoing FBI probe. The panel, after reviewing the documents privately, determined they were protected under provisions of the Government Records Access and Management Act dealing with investigative records.
The committee did order the release of one document: a policy manual apparently used by the Beaver County Sheriff's Office.
Reporter Nate Carlisle sought the investigative file stemming from allegations that Noel placed two hands around the neck of a handcuffed man and choked him. The alleged victim, Timothy Scott Wilson, is the son of Dorothy Louise Searcy, who was convicted of third-degree manslaughter in the stabbing death of Reginald Searcy. Wilson, who is in prison on an unrelated charge, has filed a federal civil rights suit over the alleged choking.
A former deputy Beaver County sheriff's deputy, Cody Allen, has brought suit against the county, alleging Noel fired him in retaliation for him reporting the choking incident.
In a previous hearing, the state Records Committee ruled in favor of The Tribune's appeal seeking emails or other correspondence related to the Noel case. The AG's office has appealed that order to 3rd District Court, where the case is ongoing.
Noel is the son of state Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab.