Prosecutors took the rare step this week of accusing a Utah judge of showing preferential treatment toward a former Brigham Young University athlete accused of rape.

Citing that alleged bias, they called for 5th District Judge Jay T. Winward to be barred from presiding over the case. But their motion to disqualify Winward was shut down less than 24 hours later, after an independent review concluded Winward had not shown substantial favoritism.

That court squabble is the latest in the high-profile case involving the former BYU football standout, Parker Kingston, now 22, who was charged with rape in February, stemming from allegations in southern Utah.

The Washington County attorney’s office, which is prosecuting the case, had initially filed the request Monday to have the judge removed. Prosecutor Jerry Jaeger acknowledged it was an unusual motion but one he said he felt compelled to make after Winward declined to voluntarily recuse himself.

Jaeger asserted Winward showed favoritism toward Kingston in early court proceedings, alleging that left the judge unable to make impartial rulings in the case.

During a scheduling conference last month, Jaeger said, the judge said Kingston’s athletic career merited moving the case forward quickly.

At the same time, Jaeger said, the judge has not fully granted motions from the prosecution to delay the case over concerns for the alleged victim’s mental and physical health, which they say has been documented by doctors.

Jaeger had asked for an indefinite trial delay — or at least a 12-week delay — in order for her to recover and be able to fully participate. Going forward sooner, he argued, could cause her harm.

“The court’s refusal to reasonably accommodate the victim’s medical needs, while simultaneously emphasizing the defendant’s athletic career, creates a substantial appearance of partiality,” Jaeger wrote.

It’s reached the point, he asserted, where the victim “has lost all confidence that she can receive a fair proceeding before Judge Winward.”

In the independent ruling Tuesday, 5th District Judge John J. Walton — who was assigned to review the matter — said that Winward provided “thoughtful balancing” of Kingston’s interests to a speedy trial and the victim’s concerns.

In doing so, Winward granted a roughly nine-week delay to the trail, which was originally set for May and is now scheduled to start July 6.

Walton added that the judge’s consideration of Kingston’s career wasn’t based on bias or feelings about the athlete’s future prospects. Kingston was cut from the team and expelled from BYU in February, when the university learned of the allegations, according to a previous statement from the school.

Instead, the judge was using information about Kingston’s life circumstances as factors toward not prolonging a resolution in the case, according to the review.

A spokesperson for the court said it would be inappropriate for Winward to directly respond to the allegations.

Jaeger’s office and counsel for the victim did not respond to requests from The Salt Lake Tribune for comment. Kingston’s attorney declined to comment, citing an ongoing gag order in the case.

Kingston was charged with one first-degree felony count of rape after a 20-year-old woman told officers at a southern Utah hospital that she had been sexually assaulted by Kingston on Feb. 23, 2025, in St. George.

Early that morning, Kingston had allegedly been at the woman’s home, where they watched a movie and “engaged in some sexual activity” that did not include intercourse, charging documents state.

The woman told forensic experts, according to a probable cause statement, that she had texted Kingston beforehand not to come over if he was expecting sex. When Kingston started to fall asleep, the woman said she left the room to get ready for bed.

When she returned, she alleges Kingston initiated sexual activity. “She told Kingston to stop several times and tried to push him off of her,” the charging documents state. Kingston allegedly forced her to have sex.

Kingston later told detectives “all sexual activity was consensual,” according to court documents.

At a preliminary hearing in April, Winward ruled there was enough evidence to move forward to a trial.

Winward was first appointed to the bench in December 2022 by Utah Gov. Spencer Cox. He attended law school at BYU and teaches at Utah Tech University in southern Utah.

Washington County prosecutors had also cited a case involving an athlete from Utah Tech, who was similarly accused of assault, as part of the motion requesting to disqualify Winward.

In that previous case, two reported victims testified against the athlete in a preliminary hearing. The judge, according to Jaeger’s motion, took the “extraordinary action” of entirely dismissing the case against the athlete at that time.

Jaeger alleges in his motion that at the beginning of the hearing, Winward had called for an offline conference with attorneys for the athlete and the state. The motion accuses Winward of commenting: “I could be totally wrong. But it sounds like buyer’s remorse with these two girls that invited him to hang out with them. It’s a tough case.”

The independent review states that suggesting Winward “has exhibited a pattern of bias” based on that separate Utah Tech case “strains credulity.”

“The cases and their procedural circumstances are entirely different,” the review states.

The Tribune is not naming the athlete in the separate Utah Tech case because it was dismissed; that case is now pending appeal.

The independent review adds that if prosecutors are unhappy with Winward’s decisions in the BYU case, they have the option to appeal them.