Davis County prosecutors have a problem with a negligent homicide case -- no one's dead.
The county attorney's office learned Wednesday the victim had, in fact, survived the motorcycle crash that was thought to have killed him.
"We were working under the assumption the victim had passed," said Deputy Davis County Attorney Steve Major.
Major and troopers from the Utah Highway Patrol, who investigated the crash, plan to meet today to determine what happened.
On Aug. 1, Jordan J. Creswell was riding a motorcycle on Interstate 15 near Layton. His friend, Bryant Mavretic, was on the back.
UHP Trooper Cameron Roden said the motorcycle was weaving and speeding through traffic before it clipped the back of a car, throwing both men off the motorcycle.
Their injuries were considered life-threatening enough that troopers were checking with the hospital to see if they had died, Roden said. At the same time, the troopers were talking to the Davis County Attorney's Office about the possibility of criminal charges against Creswell.
Somewhere in the process, Major said, he began assuming that Mavretic had died.
"My recollection is [UHP] brought it over and said, 'We needed to staff this for negligent homicide,'" Major said.
The negligent homicide charge, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail, was filed Jan. 28 against Creswell, 19, of Hooper. He also was charged with lesser misdemeanors alleging reckless driving and unlawful alcohol possession. Major said those charges may remain.
Creswell's family declined comment Wednesday.
In an interview posted Wednesday on the Web site of the Standard-Examiner newspaper, Mavretic said he wasn't bothered by news of his death.
"I thought it was funny that I make news and I didn't even do anything," Mavretic told the newspaper, with a laugh. "I'm dead."
