Sex offender receives sentence hearing delay

A convicted sex offender whose prison sentence reportedly was lightened by a former state judge wants more time to think about his case before a resolution is reached and a sentence is officially restored.

James Robert Scott, 41, was brought from prison and appeared before 3rd District Judge Robert Hilder Friday for a review of the case. He was convicted in 2005 of three first-degree felony counts of sodomy on a child for abusing a 6-year-old girl. Seventeen other felony charges were dismissed.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys thought they had a resolution in the case to present to Hilder on Friday, but Scott wants to speak to his lawyers and think more about his legal options. Hilder scheduled another hearing for Jan. 26.

Scott's former defense attorney, Roger Kraft, previously has said former 3rd District Judge Leslie Lewis sentenced Scott on Feb. 10, 2006, to 30 years in prison, but Kraft said the judge was hostile and rude to him in court, and he wrote a letter protesting her treatment of him.

Kraft since then has told the Deseret Morning News that Lewis called him, apologized for her behavior, and offered to subtract 10 years from Scott's sentence without telling the prosecutors. Kraft also said that she asked him not to say anything about the sentence change.

If Lewis did what Kraft said, that is a violation of the rules of judicial conduct.

Colin Winchester, executive director of the Judicial Conduct Commission, said Friday that he is not permitted to confirm or deny whether complaints regarding Lewis are pending. The commission investigates claims of misbehavior by judges and can take certain actions itself, or can recommend more severe penalties to the Utah Supreme Court.

Lewis was defeated in the November 2006 retention election and left office before her term expired at the end of the year, but the JCC still has the authority to investigate complaints against her and take actions it considers appropriate.

Meanwhile, the Utah Court of Appeals has sent Scott's case back to the district court to determine the correct sentence that should officially be entered for him. District court records regarding Scott's sentence are somewhat unclear as to how much time the judge imposed.

Laura Dupaix, assistant attorney general, last year petitioned the appeals court seeking to have the amended sentence set aside and the original sentence reinstated.

"I feel pretty confident in our legal position that the amended sentence is not a legal one," she said Friday outside the courtroom.