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Bountiful • As defense attorneys for accused child killers Nathan and Stephanie Sloop have battled to keep secret two new sources of potentially incriminating evidence, The Salt Lake Tribune has been fighting for access to court hearings and sealed documents pertaining to the issue.
On Thursday, The Tribune won a partial victory when 2nd District Judge Glen Dawson ruled the process to determine the admissibility of the evidence will be open to the public.
That means an April 21 hearing on defense motions seeking to suppress the evidence will largely be open to the media, as will court briefs filed by attorneys during the next month.
But the actual nature of the evidence will remain secret unless the judge rules it can be admitted at trial.
"It's a fair resolution," said attorney Michael O'Brien, who represents The Tribune.
Attorneys said Thursday, following a 90-minute closed-door hearing with Dawson, that the controversial evidence falls into two categories:
• Records of Nathan Sloop's interactions with a therapist, which have been subpoenaed by prosecutors.
• Materials seized from Nathan Sloop's cell at the Davis County jail.
Attorney Rich Mauro, representing Nathan Sloop, claims the therapy records impact Sloop's patient-physician privilege and should not be admissible at trial, nor available to the public. These records will be the subject of the April 21 hearing.
Mauro claims the materials seized by jailers are protected by attorney-client privilege.
Mary Corporon, who represents Stephanie Sloop, said she agreed the therapy records are private.
Corporon added that the materials seized from Nathan Sloop's cell, already in the hands of prosecutors, should be made available to her, as well, because they may help to show Stephanie Sloop's innocence.
Nathan Sloop, 32, and his wife, Stephanie Sloop, 28, are both charged with aggravated murder, which carries the potential for the death penalty, in the death of her 4-year-old son, Ethan Stacy, in May 2010.
Charging documents say the couple engaged in multiple acts of "severe abuse" between April 29 and May 8, which led to Ethan's death, including "beatings, burning, drugging, isolating, malnourishing, leaving the child alone and unattended while suffering, and refusing to seek vital life-sustaining medical attention."
According to the police probable cause statements, Stephanie Sloop said she knew Ethan needed medical attention after an initial May 5 disciplinary beating by Nathan Sloop, but that she was afraid Sloop would harm her, too, if she acted.
She told police that Ethan became "extremely ill," would not eat and was given Benadryl to keep him quiet. She also told police that on May 7, Nathan Sloop told her Ethan had burned himself in the bathtub on his feet, legs and buttocks by turning up the hot water when Nathan Sloop left the bathroom.
The couple — who said they left the injured boy in a locked bedroom while they got married May 6 — reported Ethan missing to police on Mother's Day, May 10, after discovering the boy was dead.
But after a 12-hour search, police say the couple confessed to burying the boy off a trail near Powder Mountain Ski Resort in Weber County.
Nathan Sloop, who led officers to the body on May 11, told police he used a hammer to disfigure the boy's face and teeth in an effort to hinder his identification.