Convicted shooter gets another trial in Salt Lake club case

SALT LAKE CITY — Deon Lomas Clopten, who was convicted of murdering a man outside a Salt Lake nightspot, but whose conviction was overturned, will get a new trial.

Lomax, 34, was charged with murder, a first-degree felony, and three other felonies in connection with the shooting death of Tony Fuailemaa, 27, outside Club X-Scape in 2002.

A jury convicted Clopten, who has insisted that someone else shot Fuailemaa, and Clopten was sentenced to five years to life in prison.

However, the Utah Supreme Court overturned the conviction, ruling that the trial court erred in not permitting the testimony of an expert in eyewitness reliability.

"We are always reluctant to reverse a jury's decision to convict, particularly when the crime in question is as serious as this one. The seriousness of the crime, however, makes it only more imperative that the jury's decision-making abilities are supported by the best information available. If unreliable identifications are not addressed properly at trial, then there exists an unacceptable risk of the innocent being punished and dangerous criminals remaining at large," the Supreme Court ruling said.

Clopten's new trial is set to run Aug. 2-6.

— Linda Thomson