Leavitt won't have to testify at trial of Goshute leader

Mike Leavitt will not testify at the upcoming criminal trial of Leon D. Bear, whose controversial plan to bring a nuclear-waste storage facility to tribal lands in the western desert faced perhaps its strongest opposition from the former governor.

Attorneys for Bear, the embattled leader of the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes, argued Friday that Leavitt's alleged monetary support of tribal members opposed to Bear's plan calls into question the credibility of those slated to testify against the Goshute chairman on charges that he embezzled some $160,000 from the band between December 1998 and March 2003.

Through an attorney specifically hired to combat the proposed facility, Leavitt authorized payments of an estimated $500,000 to four attorneys representing a handful of dissident Goshutes, attorney John Sullivan said.

"If the state of Utah, via the governor's office, is paying the attorneys' fees of any of the witnesses in this case, that would certainly influence their testimony," Sullivan said.

Bear is charged with one count each of theft from Indian tribal organizations and theft concerning programs receiving federal funds and three counts of false statements for allegedly failing to claim his tribal income on his 1999, 2000 and 2001 tax returns.

The charges are specific to Bear's actions in various leadership positions within the band, and, Assistant Attorney General Fred Nelson said Friday, have nothing to do with Leavitt's very public opposition to storing nuclear waste on Goshute land.

"Gov. Leavitt was governor of the state for 11 years, and there is no question that he opposed the facility," Nelson said, confirming that Leavitt set aside funds to fight the proposed storage facility on a number of fronts, including aiding the dissident Goshutes.

"That does not demonstrate, though, a relevance to the particular circumstances here."

U.S. District Judge Bruce Jenkins agreed and quashed a subpoena ordering Leavitt, now President Bush's secretary of Health and Human Services, to appear in court April 18, the first day of a scheduled two-week trial in the case.

"I don't see how (Leavitt's) testimony, even assuming it in some fashion follows the lines that you've suggested, would be helpful to these specific counts," Jenkins said.

The judge repeatedly cautioned Bear's attorneys to stick to the details of the specific charges, not the larger political issue regarding the waste storage.

"We're going to confine ourselves to these charges," Jenkins said.