The heart of Salt Lake County District Attorney Lohra Miller's case against a veteran prosecutor -- fired last year for allegedly leaking confidential information to former Doll House escort-service owner Santiago Steven Maese -- is testimony from Maese's former partner.
But Tiffany French Curtis admitted Wednesday during Kent Morgan's job-termination hearing she has no firsthand information that Morgan was Maese's secret source.
In fact, Curtis conceded that Maese is manipulative, had lied to her in the past and may have used his purported connection with Morgan to control her while police were mounting a prostitution case against her and Maese.
Morgan's attorney, Phillip Dyer, asked the county Career Service Council to disregard Curtis' entire testimony. Dyer claimed it failed to meet the "substantial" level of proof, based on "competent evidence," required before a merit employee can be fired.
Valerie Wilde, representing the county, countered that much of Curtis' testimony regarding peripheral information is corroborated.
Curtis named Morgan as an inside source for Maese in February 2008. Morgan was fired a month later.
Cottonwood Heights police Detective Daniel Bartlett testified Wednesday that on June 21, 2006, Maese told him he knew that an initial screening with county prosecutors had gone badly. Bartlett said Maese also knew that Miller, then a prosecutor for Cottonwood Heights City, had become angry during the screening session.
Earlier this month, Maese -- who is serving 60 days in jail for exploitation of prostitution and racketeering -- told the Career Services Council that Morgan had never given him any information about the investigation.
Morgan's hearing is set to continue on March 2.
