Allgier wants new lawyers appointed

Curtis Allgier, who is charged with killing a law enforcement officer, has asked a judge to appoint new attorneys to his capital case because he says there are possible conflicts of interest that could harm his chances to get a fair trial.

Allgier, 29, is charged with aggravated murder in connection with the 2007 slaying of prison guard Stephen Anderson during a visit to a hospital, along with several other crimes. Salt Lake County District Attorney Lohra Miller has said publicly her office will seek the death penalty if Allgier is convicted.

A motion filed in court Monday claims the team of lawyers from the Salt Lake Legal Defender Association that represents Allgier has a conflict of interest because they allegedly "failed to preserve evidence as requested."

It also states that Allgier's attorneys and a mitigation specialist, who researches a person's background to look for data about individuals who might make a jury decide against the death penalty, "engaged in an unauthorized disclosure of information in a breach of confidence causing irreparable prejudicial damage to the nature and content of potential mitigation witness testimony."

The motions did not give any details about these claims.

Allgier has filed a complaint with the Utah State Bar's Office of Professional Conduct about one of his attorneys, the former director of the association and a mitigation specialist. The information in the complaint is confidential unless the bar takes action in court.

Now that this motion regarding his lawyers has been filed, a preliminary hearing set for Jan. 27 for Allgier has been canceled.

Instead, 3rd District Judge Sheila McCleve will preside over a Jan. 29 motion hearing to address Allgier's claims about his lawyers.

There also will be another motion hearing on Feb. 27 regarding the so-called "Cobb letter," a letter sent by an outside party to a different judge earlier in the case that has not been made public. The Deseret News and other media outlets have asked to have their attorneys see the letter so they can argue whether or not it should be made public.

The Salt Lake County Legal Defender Association previously asked to be removed from Allgier's case due to other undisclosed conflicts of interest, but that request was denied.

In addition, Allgier filed a motion in 3rd District Court on Monday asking that a judge order that he be "double-cuffed" when brought to court. Currently, a single pair of handcuffs is used to restrain his hands behind his back, but Allgier claims he has a "serious shoulder injury" and that method of restraint causes him "severe pain."

It was unclear from the motion whether Allgier wanted to have his hands cuffed in front, which is not the practice favored by the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office. One "double-cuffed" technique the office employs is to use two sets of handcuffs that are linked to each other, which extends the length of the restraint.

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E-mail: lindat@desnews.com

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