Trial set for man accused of bogus oil-lease bidding

A trial date has been set in the case of a University of Utah student accused of throwing a monkey wrench in a federal oil- and gas-lease auction by making bogus bids.

The case of Tim DeChristopher, 27, will go before a jury in a three-day trial starting March 15.

DeChristopher was indicted earlier this year on charges of providing a false statement and violating the Federal Onshore Oil and Gas Leasing Reform Act during an auction held by the Bureau of Land Management in December 2008 where he won 14 parcels of land worth $1.7 million that he never intended to pay for.

Attorneys for DeChristopher wanted to use a necessity defense in the case, which would allow them to argue that DeChristopher was facing a "choice of evils." They argued in court that DeChristopher took the course of action he did as a matter of necessity in a last-ditch effort to halt what he believed were illegal sales being carried out by the Bush administration as it was preparing to leave office.

Prosecutors asked that the defense be barred, as a necessity defense requires that four elements be present, including that when "faced with a choice of evils," the defendant "chose the lesser evil"; that "he acted to prevent imminent harm"; that "he reasonably anticipated a direct causal relationship between his conduct and the harm to be averted"; and, finally, that there were "no legal alternatives to violating the law."

U.S. District Judge Dee Benson ultimately barred the use of the necessity defense in the case, saying that DeChristopher did have legal alternatives to his actions and that there was no imminent harm that would have prompted the illegal action.

Benson and prosecutors also expressed concerns that a necessity defense would serve only to open a public forum for DeChristopher to speak on climate change and global warming.

But DeChristopher's attorney, Ron Yengich, has said multiple times that he believes a jury may sympathize with his client's cause.

e-mail: emorgan@desnews.com