But you can expect all the suspicions and accusations that boiled up on both sides of the issue to erupt like Vesuvius during the Salt Lake County election campaign in 2006.

Republicans say a jury's not-guilty verdict validated their claim that Democratic District Attorney David Yocom charged Workman with felony misuse of public money out of political spite. They claim Yocom deprived the voters of the opportunity to re-elect Workman because the charges alone forced her to drop out of the race.

Yocom's defenders say it is undisputed that Workman arranged for county Health Department funds to pay the salaries of bookkeepers helping her daughter at the non-profit Boys and Girls Clubs, and a bipartisan panel of prosecutors agreed that probably amounted to a felony.

Yocom is not expected to seek re-election, but his potential challengers are in positions that could heighten the political intrigue that the Workman prosecution will bring to the 2006 district attorney's race.

One of Yocom's top prosecutors, Kent Morgan, who the D.A. has publicly said he respects and admires, has indicated he would like to run for the top office.

Morgan also happens to be a Republican, and Lara Miller, Yocom's GOP opponent in 2002, says she is not planning to run. That could clear the decks in the opposing party for one of Yocom's favorite foot soldiers.

One Democrat who has expressed interest in running is Greg Skordas, Yocom's former chief deputy whose lengthy friendship with the D.A. has led his children to refer to Yocom as "Uncle Dave."

Skordas, however, was Workman's defense attorney and he joined the throng of Workman supporters in vilifying Yocom for his alleged "political prosecution."

The result: The Yocom-Skordas friendship is destroyed and Skordas, the Democratic attorney general candidate last year, admits he may have a hard time getting the Democratic nomination because of newly minted resentment toward him among the party faithful.

The irony, of course, is that if Skordas were the Democratic candidate running against the Republican who was part of the office that charged Workman, the whole political prosecution claim the Republicans might make would be neutered.

Another Democratic possibility is Sim Gill, and he might get Yocom's endorsement, which would help resurrect the Workman issue. Gill also is the chief prosecutor in Salt Lake City, appointed by Mayor Rocky Anderson, the Republicans' favorite bogeyman.

An even more volatile subject, potentially, is the sleazy little Truth in Politics pamphlet that was mailed to selected households just before the election. It lumped several Republican county office-holders who had nothing to do with the Workman controversy into the same scandalous pit with the tainted mayor.

Months later, a relationship between the mysterious Truth in Politics PAC and the state Democratic Party was uncovered, although Democratic Chairman Donald Dunn insisted the party did nothing wrong.

The brochure implied criminal activity on the part of County Council member Steve Harmsen, state representatives Chad Bennion and Greg Curtis, and Sens. James Evans and Chris Buttars. Bennion, Harmsen and Evans lost their bids for re-election and they blamed it on the pamphlet.

The election of a new Salt Lake County Republican chairperson this spring could put the Truth in Politics controversy back on the front burner. Tiani Coleman is expected to not seek re-election and the two most prominent names out there to succeed her are, you guessed it, alleged smear victims Evans and Harmsen.

Harmsen says that he and Evans have agreed they will not run against each other. "We are talking, and one of us will likely run. Whoever that is will be supported by the other."

Harmsen also says he is contemplating a lawsuit against the Truth in Politics PAC. "Not to get money," he said, "but to force them to identify who was behind this."

Democratic Salt Lake County Clerk Sherrie Swensen likely will be implicated in whatever political conspiracy theories some Republicans might throw at the Democrats in 2006.

Workman supporters continue to grumble that Yocom did not adequately pursue sexual harassment allegations against Swensen's chief deputy, Nick Floros, a fellow Democrat, and the alleged victim is now suing the county. Floros retired after the allegations surfaced, and Swensen replaced him with Yocom's son, Jason, who previously had been Democratic County Councilman Jim Bradley's administrative assistant.

Watch those relationships get scrutinized by Republicans through a whispering campaign that could get even more heated if Evans, one of the Truth in Politics wounded, decides to run for a County Council seat against Bradley, which Evans might do if he acquiesces to Harmsen for the party chairmanship.