Jailhouse motion could delay sentencing

PROVO — A handwritten motion sent from the Utah County Jail could delay the sentencing of Robert Steven Hatch, who was convicted in November of shooting to death his estranged wife.

The motion includes information that Hatch intends to move for a new trial and sends a clear signal that Hatch plans to appeal the jury's decision that he is guilty of murdering Sharee Nelson Hatch.

Hatch mailed two hand-drafted documents to 4th District Judge Fred Howard to request a hearing on his motion to have a new attorney — a public defender — appointed in his case. Hatch mailed copies to prosecutors and the attorneys who represented him at trial, Gregory Skordas and Jack Morgan.

The documents were prepared by another inmate, Jack Grossnickle, who is serving a one-year sentence for forgery. Grossnickle created a facsimile of a motion by drawing boxes and writing out longhand the required arguments for the motion.

"I'm guessing this guy is one of those jailhouse lawyers," said David Wayment, a deputy Utah County attorney who was on the prosecution team in the Hatch case. "Most jails of any size have guys who specialize in drafting motions. Some get quite good at it."

Howard scheduled a hearing today to hear the motion. Wayment speculated that Howard may hope to handle the motion this week and still preserve Tuesday's sentencing date. The sentencing already has been delayed once, from Dec. 23.

This kind of jailhouse lawyering is unusual for the Utah County Jail.

"It's not common," said Lt. Jerry Monson, who oversees the inmate population at the jail. "In a prison setting, it may be more prevalent. Our inmates come and go, so I don't know if there is time for an inmate to establish himself as a jailhouse lawyer."

Utah State Prison spokesman Jack Ford confirmed that Grossnickle served a year in the prison on forgery and burglary charges.

"There are jailhouse lawyers, and in fact some inmates pay them to do legal drafting, to do pro bono and pro se work," Ford said. "I've got a half-dozen letters on my desk complaining about things that are written by others than those complaining."

Judges tend to be understanding of documents filed pro se, which means representing oneself.

"The courts, if you're doing a pro se, don't require it to be done right to the letter," Ford said.