Accused judge acted appropriately, attorney says

VERNAL — The city's justice-court judge shouldn't be charged with obstructing justice because she did nothing wrong when she rebuffed two police requests to interview her adult son, according to the woman's attorney.

Cleopatra "Pat" McRae, 65, was charged in February with obstructing justice, a class A misdemeanor. Prosecutors allege that she harbored or concealed her son from law enforcement. McRae's son, Darwin Chew, was wanted for questioning in late December by Naples police after he allegedly skipped out on a taxi fare.

Defense attorney Richard Mauro, in a motion filed Friday in 8th District Court, wrote that McRae is protected under the First and Fourth amendments of the U.S. Constitution from prosecution under Utah's obstructing-justice statute, based on the facts in the case.

Mauro said his client acted appropriately when called twice by police officers who wanted to talk to Chew. He said McRae had told investigators that her son was at her home but was asleep after having drinks with friends at an area bar and wasn't available to talk to police.

Mauro said McRae informed the officers of the proper steps they should take if they believed her son had committed a crime.

Because the crime Chew was being accused of — theft of services — is a misdemeanor, officers are prohibited by law from arresting him unless they witness the offense.

McRae reminded both officers of this fact, her attorney said, and instructed them to contact their city prosecutor about filing a criminal information in the case and having a summons issued.

"She even correctly told the officer, 'If you can justify a warrant, get one,' " Mauro wrote.

The attorney pointed out that one of the officers who called — Lt. Manny Escoto — has a son who had a misdemeanor drug and alcohol case pending before McRae in December. During her conversation with Escoto, McRae asked him whether the investigation into Chew was "some kind of an agenda" because she was presiding over his son's case.

Escoto denied that he was targeting the judge or her family, according to a transcript of the call.

In his motion, Mauro pointed out that police did not seek out Chew the day after calling McRae, and no charges were filed against him until after the obstructing-justice charge was filed against the judge.

Naples Police Chief Mark Watkins on Wednesday defended his department's handling of the case.

"This case was screened meticulously by me before any decision was made for it to be sent for prosecution," Watkins said. "It's utterly ridiculous to think that the Naples Police Department in any way would take any revenge on anyone, including a judge for doing her job."

McRae is currently on paid leave, pending the resolution of the case against her. State law requires the chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court to place any judge on leave if they are facing a felony or class A misdemeanor charge.

A suppression hearing is scheduled for May 29. A 3rd District judge has been assigned to the case to avoid potential conflicts of interest for judges in the 8th Judicial District.

E-MAIL: geoff@ubstandard.com