West High teacher's trial canceled

The trial of Jose Bernardo Fanjul, a former West High School teacher accused of having sex with a 16-year-old female student, has been canceled because his outraged lawyers insist prosecutors are guilty of "professional misconduct" and have ruined Fanjul's chances to get a fair trial.

Third District Judge Ann Boyden canceled the trial that was scheduled to run May 5-11 and set a special hearing for Friday.

The judge also ordered everyone connected with the case not to talk to the media.

Defense attorneys Kenneth Brown and Ann Marie Taliaferro on Monday filed a written motion to dismiss the case against Fanjul, because they say prosecutors deliberately waited until just before Fanjul's trial was to start to charge two other men — who are witnesses in Fanjul's case — with lying about their activities with the alleged victim.

The timing of this was "orchestrated," and even worse, the attorneys say, the information was reported in the media, which tainted Fanjul's potential jury pool.

Fanjul, 46, is charged with five counts of forcible sodomy, a first-degree felony, and five counts of forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony, for alleged sexual contact with the girl.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, and his lawyers previously received permission from the judge to examine what the defense attorneys believe are inconsistent statements the girl told police versus what she testified to at a preliminary hearing.

Boyden previously has said the material could be introduced for the purpose of possible "impeachment," or determining whether the girl was telling the truth.

Boyden emphasized that by allowing this information to be provided to defense attorneys, the judge was not intending to embarrass the girl, nor was Boyden trying to eliminate the protections that victims in sexually-related cases have under the law.

The Salt Lake County District Attorney's Office on April 30 filed documents in 3rd District Court indicating that:

Bozhidar Petajan, 26, is charged with making false material statements, a second-degree felony, and obstructing justice, a third-degree felony.

 Augustine Allotey, 30, is charged with making false material statements, a second-degree felony; unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a third-degree felony; and obstructing justice, a class A misdemeanor.

Both Petajan and Allotey testified at a Jan. 12 hearing in the Fanjul case that they had never had any sexual contact with the girl. Then Petajan on Jan. 26 told police that he had lied to them and also lied under oath.

Another witness in the case, Marcos Herrera, 53, a former West High counselor, is serving three consecutive one-to-15-year prison terms for having sex with the same girl when she was 14.

E-MAIL: lindat@desnews.com