From Deseret News archives:
Olsen requests lawyer
Judge OKs appointing of an attorney in the Davis case
Fourth District Judge Lynn Davis decided Wednesday to grant a request by Timmy Brent Olsen, 28, to have a court-appointed attorney for the first-degree felony murder case.
"My name is Timmy Brent Olsen," says the court documents that were signed by Olsen. "I desire appointment of counsel to represent me in this matter and also that I be provided access to defense resources necessary for my defense."
The attorney has not been chosen, however.
In addition to the murder charge, Olsen is in federal custody, accused in U.S. District Court of lying to federal investigators about his knowledge of Davis' disappearance from Spanish Fork High School on May 2, 1995.
His federal 17-count perjury trial starts May 1 in Salt Lake City.
Olsen has yet to appear in 4th District Court for the murder charge. And based on previous statements from federal officials deputy Utah County attorneys Mariane O'Bryant and Sherry Ragan don't expect to see Olsen in a Provo courtroom anytime soon.
"They do not have to give him to us," O'Bryant told Davis during a court hearing on Wednesday. "The last time when I called and talked to them they were not willing to release him to us at this time."
Because federal authority trumps local authority, Ragan said, the federal officials could keep Olsen throughout his trial and, if convicted, his sentence.
That could be as long as 20 years.
However, if Olsen is convicted in federal court, he could choose to allow the state courts to try him for murder while he serves time for the perjury charges.
Tom Means with the Utah County Public Defender Association initiated the discussion of appointment of counsel for Olsen. It was put on hold until Olsen filed papers asking for an attorney.
The public defender's office can't represent Olsen because it has a conflict with the case.
Davis scheduled a felony first hearing for Olsen's murder charge on April 26 at 8:30 a.m. He asked the county attorney's office to file the necessary paperwork just in case federal officials change their minds and agree to transport him.
Olsen was one of five men recently indicted by a federal grand jury in the disappearance of Davis. Scott Brunson and Garry Blackmore have reached plea deals with prosecutors in exchange for testimony. Rucker Leifson and Christopher Jeppson still face perjury charges in federal court.
E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com
