Prosecutor Kent Morgan files $1.7 million claim against Lohra Miller

SALT LAKE CITY — A veteran prosecutor with the Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office who was unjustly terminated has filed a $1.7 million claim against District Attorney Lohra Miller.

The ongoing battle between Kent Morgan, a 35-year prosecutor with the DA's office, and Miller entered a new phase Wednesday when Morgan filed a notice of claim against Miller, her office, Salt Lake County itself and John/Jane Doe(s) who were employed with either the DA's office or the county at the time of Morgan's complaint.

In the claim, Morgan contends Miller had been trying to get rid of him ever since the 2006 election in which both sought the GOP ticket for district attorney.

"Miller informed members of the electorate that Mr. Morgan would have no place in her administration if she were elected," Morgan said in court documents.

Miller defeated Morgan and went on to be elected as district attorney. Morgan contends that once she took office, Miller "engaged in an ongoing effort to reduce Mr. Morgan's status in the office and remove any prestige and authority" he had, court documents state.

In 2008, Morgan contends that an informant made false allegations against him. Miller said Morgan leaked key information to Santiago Steven Maese, who at the time was being prosecuted for his role in an escort service.

Morgan said he was only friends with Maese and denied leaking information. But on March 28, 2008, Morgan was terminated from the office. He appealed his firing, and on April 23, 2008, the Salt Lake County Career Service Council ruled that Morgan had shown bad judgment in his friendship with Maese but had also been denied due process by Miller and was wrongfully terminated.

After Morgan returned to the DA's office, he was demoted to a position normally worked by law students, he said. He was later transferred to the civil division of the DA's office.

He said in the claim that Miller and her employees made and publicized false statements about him after his reinstatement, leading him to file a grievance. The service council ruled Miller had, in fact, retaliated against Morgan.

The council found that Morgan was not given a job "consistent with his years of experience" and was essentially a waste of taxpayer money at that point, according to court records.

Morgan states in the claim that Miller and her employees "have continued to engage in unlawful retaliatory actions against Mr. Morgan designed to harm his professional reputation as a prosecutor" in spite of the council's finding.

Morgan is asking for $850,000 in punitive damages and another $850,000 for general damages including lost wages, damage to his professional reputation, extreme humiliation and emotional distress, and attorney's fees.