In a decision that closes a chapter in the two-year-old West Valley City police scandal, the Utah attorney general said he will not appeal a judge's decision to dismiss the criminal charge against the former officer who killed 21-year-old Danielle Willard.
Shaun Cowley, 34, had been charged with manslaughter in Willard's death. But last month, after a three-day preliminary hearing, 3rd District Judge L.A. Dever ruled there was insufficient evidence a crime was committed and dismissed the charge.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill had asked Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes to appeal.
"The Attorney General's Office has reviewed the transcripts, evidence, and arguments presented in the Shaun Cowley preliminary hearing and decided not to file an appeal," a Friday statement from Reyes' office said. "In reaching that decision, the Office considered the factors it weighs in every request to take a State's appeal, including the likelihood of prevailing on appeal, and the likelihood of prevailing at a trial if one were held."
Cowley's attorney, Lindsay Jarvis, issued a statement Friday saying she and her client are relieved.
"We were confident that the Attorney General's Office would see that Judge Dever's ruling was appropriate, as the evidence presented in Detective Cowley's preliminary hearing indicated, without question, that he was legally justified in using deadly force against Danielle Willard on November 2nd, 2012.
"Sim Gill and his Chief Deputy, Blake Nakamura should be ashamed of themselves for wasting hundreds of thousands of tax payer's dollars on a prosecution where probable cause did not exist. The AG's decision not to proceed with an appeal is further evidence of the District Attorney's complete misuse of power and utter incompetence."
Gill on Friday said he considers the Cowley matter closed. He will not pursue an appeal from his office.
The Utah Supreme Court is weighing a grand jury case that appears connected to the Willard shooting — grand jury proceedings are closed to the public and little information about the appeal has been disclosed — but Gill on Friday said he would not continue to pursue charges against Cowley.
Gill said he asked Reyes to appeal because that is the process for appealing felony cases, and he respects the attorney general's decision.
Gill's investigation of the Willard shooting put him in the middle of dueling factions. Willard's family and picketers against what they call excessive force were on one side. Cowley's attorneys and the Utah chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police were on the other.
Gill, a Democrat who won re-election on Tuesday, said he believes his investigation and the charge against Cowley spurred discussion that contributed to the nationwide debate on police use of force.
"But at the end of the day, we have to have a process that people can at least trust in," Gill said.
Willard's mother, Melissa Kennedy, did not immediately return a request for comment. She still has a federal civil lawsuit pending against West Valley City.
On Nov. 2, 2012, Cowley and his partner approached Willard — who was unarmed — in her car during an undercover drug investigation.
Cowley said that when Willard backed out of the parking space, he thought she was trying to run over him.
The investigation into the shooting spiraled into a review of West Valley City's Neighborhood Narcotics Unit. About 120 criminal cases were dismissed as a result of problems that included mishandling evidence, improper use of informants and failure to make proper reports. Six detectives were disciplined.
Lt. John Coyle, who oversaw the unit, was demoted, though the West Valley City Civil Service Commission later reinstated his rank and back pay. Then Police Chief Thayle "Buzz" Nielsen resigned in the middle of the investigation for what he said were health reasons.
West Valley City fired Cowley, but not for the shooting. He was found to have mishandled evidence. He is appealing the termination.
In his decision, Dever wrote that prosecutors presented no evidence that Cowley's "conduct was not legally justifiable," pointing to a consulting detective's testimony that Cowley could have thought Willard was trying to kill him.
But Gill, in explaining his decision to request an appeal, contended the standard for a judge to advance a case to trial is "quite low in terms of any reasonable evidence" and requires the judge to review the case "in the light most favorable" to prosecutors, who must only show probable cause that a defendant committed a crime.
"That's a standard we believe was met," Gill said.
The Utah Attorney General's Office generally represents county prosecutors in appeals. But requests to appeal a charge dismissed after a preliminary hearing are rare, mostly because so few preliminary hearings result in a dismissal.
Cowley's partner, Kevin Salmon, who shot at and grazed Willard, resigned the same week Cowley's charge was dismissed.
ncarlisle@sltrib.com
Twitter: @natecarlisle