MediaNews urges court to reject motion

Owners of the Salt Lake Tribune on Monday urged a federal appeals court to reject former managers' renewed motion to force the judge overseeing the newspaper ownership dispute to release personal information about himself.

The information could lead to the ouster of U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart, who has presided over the litigation since July 2001. The former Tribune managers have asked Stewart on three prior occasions to remove himself from the case, to which he was assigned after three other Utah federal judges recused themselves.

MediaNews Group Inc. told the 10th Circuit on Monday that the McCarthey family's November petition is "untimely," "unfair" and "unwarranted."

MediaNews noted Monday that each of the recusal motions have come after key rulings against them in court.

"Each of these three recusal motions followed on the heels of a ruling by Judge Stewart adverse to petitioners' case," Monday's filing states. "Whenever Judge Stewart ruled in petitioners' favor . . . petitioners held their fire. When he ruled against them, they suggested he should recuse himself."

Earlier this month, the 10th Circuit set Monday as the deadline for MediaNews to respond to the McCartheys' petition. In the same order, the court also allowed Stewart the opportunity to respond, "if he desires."

The case docket did not reflect any filing from the judge by the close of court Monday.

The ownership dispute began with MediaNews' January 2001 purchase of the Tribune. Salt Lake Tribune Publishing Co. (SLTPC) — made up primarily of the five McCarthey siblings — sought to exercise a 1997 option agreement that allowed them to purchase the Tribune after July 2002.

SLTPC, however, declined to exercise the option agreement in October after Stewart upheld the appraisal process that set the paper's price at $355.5 million. An appeal of that ruling is pending before the 10th Circuit.

Because the McCartheys' petition relates not to that main case, but another one now pending before Stewart, attorneys for the family say it is still important that Stewart fully disclose all facts about himself that relate to issues in the ownership litigation.

That includes, the petition states, discussions he may have had with former Gov. Mike Leavitt regarding a possible sale of the Tribune and his financial contributions to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Stewart was Leavitt's chief of staff in 1999. He is also a member of the LDS Church, which owns the Deseret Morning News, a party to the litigation.

MediaNews argues in its Monday filing that Stewart has already made extensive disclosures on two separate occasions, each time saying he has no recollection of any discussions with Leavitt about any possible sale of the Tribune and confirming his membership in the LDS Church and his "voluntary financial contributions" to the church.

The filing chides the request for a full accounting of Stewart's contributions to the LDS Church as "unnecessarily intrusive."

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E-MAIL: awelling@desnews.com