System hurt, and helped, Workman

Having just moments earlier learned that the verdict had gone against him in the year's most publicized court case, prosecutor Mike Martinez had a thing or two to say about the system.

"The American jury system is the greatest system in the world and I salute it," he said. "If the jury says she's not guilty, she's not guilty. I believe it because they said it. I'm never going to say she's guilty, because she's not."

The she in question being, of course, Nancy Workman, the former Salt Lake County mayor whom Martinez was assigned to prosecute on two felony charges brought early last fall by the district attorney.

After due deliberation at the end of a weeklong trial, eight members of the community — by definition, Workman's peers — decided unanimously that the former mayor's actions in hiring a so-called "ghost employee" who was paid by the county but didn't work for the county — and instead worked under the direction of the mayor's daughter — did not constitute criminal behavior.

A bipartisan team of county prosecutors opined last summer that there was sufficient evidence to warrant prosecuting the matter, and Judge Robert Hilder ruled in October that there was sufficient probable cause to send the case to trial.

But in the end, the only verdict that mattered was in the hands of a banker, a homemaker, a teacher, a government worker, three business managers and a retiree.

And they said Nancy Workman will not be making anyone's license plates.

They didn't say that exactly, but that was the gist of their verdict. They couldn't stretch what the mayor did into a stretch. They couldn't see her doing time for signing time cards. They couldn't send her to the Big House for helping out her daughter's house.

They just couldn't pronounce the f word: f-f-f-f-e-l-o-n.

"Juries have compassion," Martinez said. "They see people as people; they relate to them as human beings. They hear everything (that's presented) and do what they think is fair. That's what they did here. I'm fine with it."

---

The magnanimity of the prosecutor and compassion of the jurors aside, the Workman case did manage to come down hard with its unspoken message that elected officials need to be aware that public trust carries with it a large magnifying glass.

The mere suggestion that power is being abused and authority is being flouted can and will result in severe scrutiny.

For reference, look under "L" for "Lewinsky, Monica."

The problem in the Workman case was never money — a grand total of $18,000 was paid to the ghost employees; most mayors have more than that in petty cash. Nor was it crooked behavior — we're talking accountants here, who worked at a nonprofit children's club.