Deseret News | District attorney fires veteran prosecutor

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District attorney fires veteran prosecutor

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John from Logan | 12:35 p.m. March 4, 2008

Some transparency here would be nice. Will the appeal proceedings be public? When a 25 year prosecutor (who happens to be a former political opponent of the DA) is fired for cause, questions about objectivity naturally arise. It seems to me that the public has a right to know the details.

Sad day... | 12:35 p.m. March 4, 2008

Can we fire Lohra Miller instead??

Get This Straight | 12:38 p.m. March 4, 2008

He gets convictions and is rewarded by termination. Seems Like Lora doesn't want someone showing her up.

Comments continue below

SLC'er | 12:38 p.m. March 4, 2008

Miller is out of control and making a mockery of the DA's office. The office should strive to uphold justice, not to play politics and take out personal vendettas.

tabula rasa | 1:06 p.m. March 4, 2008

I think every attorney should find a way to get rid of the other attorneys, judges, magistrates, etc. and start over.

TSJ | 1:01 p.m. March 4, 2008

People of Salt Lake County...get ready for higher taxes and cuts to county programs to fund the lawsuit that Lohra has just created for you.

Nice work, Lohra, again!

Science Teacher | 1:04 p.m. March 4, 2008

I worked for Kent. He is one of the most ethical and brightest minds I've ever known. He should be the D.A. based on merit alone.

If there is any dispute, you can bet Kent is on the right side of it.

Good luck cleaning house, Kent!

Cal | 1:24 p.m. March 4, 2008

we the people should fire Lohra when we have to pay for the lawsuit that is going to come out of this. Thats what attorneys do SUE!

unbelievable | 1:25 p.m. March 4, 2008

This is outrageous. Salt Lake County is less safe today with this firing. I didn't agree with Mr. Morgan on most things politically, but he was an outstanding, hard-working, intelligent prosecutor. Perhaps the County will wake up and see Lohra Miller for what she is: a hack prosecutor out to give patronage jobs to her similarly hack cronies.

GETTING FIRED BY THE DA? | 1:33 p.m. March 4, 2008

One Call! That's All

BBKing | 1:47 p.m. March 4, 2008

At risk of speaking about intimate details of an office situation I am not aware of...

You often see in politics that great minds cannot win office. Sometimes you are just plain old too smart, you don't suffer the fools very well. And often you are so dedicated to your job that don't develop the social skills necessary to thrive in political environments.

The most honest opinion poll ever asked was done by Dan Jones in 1996 between Clinton and Dole. He didn't ask who they were going to vote for but who they "wanted" to vote for. Dole won by getting 16% of the votes to Clinton's 13%.

Winning office requires an entirely different set of skills, that may or may not translate into high performance for the office elected. How many of us know of many people smarter, more honest, etc than our current office holders, yet we vote for them every time?

Lohra Miller may in fact be a great DA and this issue has some merit. I don't know. What I do know is that some of our elected officials are briliant campaigners, once elected literally don't have a clue what to do.

Happy Camper | 1:45 p.m. March 4, 2008

Too bad Lohra can't be fired. She adds no value to the DA's office; rather, she has only caused problems. Let's hope the voters are smarter the next election.

Tommy B | 1:45 p.m. March 4, 2008

We do not know the whole story yet so lets wait and see what the reason is. But I have worked with kent for almost 2 decades and it has to be said: he is one of the best prosecuting attoneys in this state. There is a reason he has been involved in so many high profile cases. He is a professional and one of the best on the side of the good guys.

Gentry | 1:52 p.m. March 4, 2008

He must not have handled a case correctly . . . at least in Lohra "I've only handled a few misdemeanor cases" Miller's eyes.

Another example of why we should not vote for someone based on their party affiliation alone.
Lohra Miller is a train wreck, and has single handedly cost the city of some of the best prosecutors it has ever had.

Good luck Kent

Anonymous | 2:02 p.m. March 4, 2008

It's good she got rid of him, if he wants to prosecute, he should work a caseload instead of expecting to be a primadonna and getting huge money for NO prosecution work except slam dunk cases he selects to prosecute. He's an entrenched good ole' boy and now he's pitching a fit cause he's not getting selective treatment any more.

Jackie | 2:14 p.m. March 4, 2008

Maybe just maybe he will know how it feels to get put down and hard by someone in that kind of a position!! Maybe he needs to know just how it feels!! Sometimes you need to know the other side of Injustice and how it feels!!

Former employee | 2:17 p.m. March 4, 2008

Kent Morgan is one of the most brilliant and talented attorneys I have ever known, and Lorha is going to be hard pressed to find one of her flunkies to fill his shoes. The public should be aware that she has been hiring her friends, with salaries that exceed veteran employees salaries. To those employees who worked so hard to get Lorha into office; can I now say, "I told you so."

Quiet on the front | 2:25 p.m. March 4, 2008

An awful long article when neither party will comment.

Good for them. Go pound sand media....

Anonymous | 2:34 p.m. March 4, 2008

Lohra's only qualification for office was that she had ovaries. You people elected her because you thought it would be cool to have a young woman in charge? Shame on you! Her opponents were vastly more competent! You people should try thinking. There's a reason the people who endorsed her, endorsed her. It wasn't competence, it was control.

Anonymous | 2:49 p.m. March 4, 2008

I too have worked with Kent Morgan and he is definately one of the smartest (and wittiest) attorneys I have ever known. Since he has lots of experience with these capital murder cases, he gets them. And he gets results.

These are very complex cases, there are boxes and boxes of files.

I have less experience with Ms. Miller, but she and her husband seem like nice people.

Nevertheless, I doubt Morgan did anything that warrants firing.

Matty | 2:59 p.m. March 4, 2008

There goes Lohra Miller, firing the knowledgable attorney's who have experience so she looks better. Keep surrounding yourself with yes people and dullards.
Lohra, walk away before you embarrass yourself more...

Steve | 3:10 p.m. March 4, 2008

Kent is the type of person I would like to be. He never looks down on anyone and has always strived to be the best he can be. There is not a better attorney working for the county. I think the wrong person was terminated. Ask the other employees at the DA'S office.

Hmm | 3:06 p.m. March 4, 2008

Too bad neither is more interested in actual justice than the number of convictions they get.

Echo | 3:17 p.m. March 4, 2008

BBking wrote wise words. I was at the convention and Morgan gave one of the most arrogant, indignant speeches I've ever heard. He couldn't pound his chest hard enough. I thought he was a dipstick.

With that said, he may be a great, fantastic, wonderful attorney. I don't know personally.

But what I saw in his speech and demeanor at the convention, I was not impressed at all.

In fact I emailed him my thoughts and comments and he politely accepted them and thanked me.

I hope this isn't a "you know what" contest.

To Gentry...what fact do you have to make the comment about voting for someone just because of their party affiliation? Are you saying people in Salt Lake County just voted for Miller because she is Republican? If so, you don't have a clue what you are talking about and it's stupid comments like yours that add nothing to the conversation.

Dr. Booty | 4:33 p.m. March 4, 2008

To answer an earlier writer's comment, I believe that Mr. Morgan's merit hearing before the Salt Lake County Merit Council, can be a public hearing if he wishes it to be. Otherwise, it is held as a closed hearing before the council members.
If Mr. Morgan does not get his job back, he still has one more appeal to the district court.
I wish him all of the luck in the world. Even if he wins his hearing, he still will have to suffer more political pressure when he comes back to the office.
I hope that these charges are false. If they are proven to be so, shame on you DA Miller. (Wouldn't it be nice if we were able to have a recall election to force the DA out of office?)

Believe it or not | 5:07 p.m. March 4, 2008

These prosecutors do not know their job
Many people are in prison and not guilty because of it
These prosecutors are suposed to look at both sides and do not do so.
They just want a kill

Former DA Employee | 5:03 p.m. March 4, 2008

As someone who worked for and with Kent Morgan for a number of years, of all those in the DA's office he would be the least likely to break an ethical rule that would merit his termination. He is bright and decidedly non-political, which is why his candidacy died in its infancy. It is a shame that someone of his expertise and knowledge of criminal law/procedure will no longer be with the office.

Anonymous | 5:12 p.m. March 4, 2008

Since I value my job, and elected county attorneys tend to stick together, I'll decline to say in which county attorney's office I work. However, I will say that what I've heard from colleagues who work in the Salt Lake County District Attorney's office is that this goofball is creating a new office structure in which her buddies rise to power, and the best. most experienced attorneys are shunted aside. That's not good for public safety, just for her political ambitions. I trust the people I've known there for years when they tell me the office is completely fouled up.

Rich | 5:14 p.m. March 4, 2008

Judging a case when no evidence is presented on either side is impossible. We all should wait until later to judge whether Miller is justified. If she is not, let's throw her out. I don't think attorneys should have to disclose their party affiliation anyway. They're sworn to uphold the law, and if they do it, who cares what they believe.

Justice first | 5:41 p.m. March 4, 2008

This is a terrible loss for the DA's office and for Salt Lake. Kent Morgan is amazing at what he does and I have no doubt whatsoever the claims against him are completely false. I know Kent personally, and know he does everything within his power to to preserve justice. But on the other hand I hope this is an insight into what Miller is doing for the County. I hope,as a people, we care enough about what is going on, and now know what to do to change it. Good luck Kent.

Lohra should be fired | 6:07 p.m. March 4, 2008

Anyone commenting negatively on Kent's character and personality obviously don't know him and all that he has accomplished in the 24 years he has served our county and the state of Utah. To the moron who said that prosecutors just want to kill people needs to gain a deeper understanding of the law. Kent has never produced anything but cold hard evidence in any case where the criminal was sentenced. If there is an innocent person in prison, then you can look at the defense attorneys for not doing their job properly. Lohra Miller has made questionable decisions since the day she got into office and this is just proof of her true character looking for an excuse to fire one of the most loyal and talented employees the DA's office has ever seen. Congratulations Lohra I hope this backfires tremendously causing your resignation from an office you didn't deserve in the first place having never tried anything more than a traffic violation.

Ken Baguley | 6:32 p.m. March 4, 2008

Some cannot handle authority, nor competition. So they exercise it without cause to prove themselves as powerful?

The Public's Right to Know | 6:37 p.m. March 4, 2008

The public has a right to know the substance and accuracy of the allegations that led to the firing of this experienced prosecutor. These allegations, if true, show a dereliction of duty on the part of the prosecutor. However, if they are false, then Lohra Miller should be held accountable for slandering this gentlemen's integrity and good name.

Camille | 6:54 p.m. March 4, 2008

This doesn't make any sense at all. I think Miller has stepped out of line here.

SaltLaker | 7:28 p.m. March 4, 2008

Interesting...one career prosecutor is fired after winning a high profile death-penalty case. On the other hand, another of Miller's prosecutors is kept on after being caught with cocaine in his suitcase at the airport. Sounds like the buddy-system is alive and well at the DA's office.

Anonymous | 8:42 p.m. March 4, 2008

Kent is without a doubt one of the most intelligent and ethical attorneys in the DAï¿½s office. He was extremely hard working and earned every penny of his salary.

What the public has a right to know is how underhanded and close-minded Lohra Miller is. She hires all of her friends and even creates new positions for them. And, speaking of salaries...think about how much the tax payers (YOU) are paying Lohra Miller to scheme about how to carry out her next personal vendetta. YOU are paying her to sit around with her ï¿½listï¿½ (everyone knows about it) of people she wants out of the office and plots her next move. That list gets shorter with each departing prosecutor and Lohraï¿½s list of friends in the office gets longer and longer. A total of 21 prosecutors (this doesnï¿½t include support staff) have left or been fired since Ms. Miller took office a little over ONE year ago. Outrageous! Then she has the audacity to go before the County Council and ask for more staff. What the DAï¿½s office really needs is a competent leader. Kent Morgan should have been that leader. I am confident he will be back!

Anonymous | 9:01 p.m. March 4, 2008

It's amazing that someone such as Lohra, who has no experience with prosecuting complex felonies, was elected in the first place. Since she has been the DA her first priority seems to be to place as many of her friends as possible in the highest paying positions and ignore those who have talent simply because they were in the Office when Dave Yocom was the DA. Without going into great detail it can be emphatically stated that she has a fraction of the judgment that Mr. Yocom possessed. It is common knowledge that she has "disposed" of several other veteran prosecutors/staff members in order to put her cronies in their place, often at at much higher salary even though they had a fraction of the experience the one beening pushed out had. I'm glad that Kent is appealing the firing. Lohra better have strong evidence that he did what she claims he did. Kent has denied it and I bet that his friend will do so as well. Without the smoking gun she will appear to be what she most certainly is, a political accident who is try to get revenge on someone who challenged her for the office.

Geno | 9:55 p.m. March 4, 2008

Steve??? He doesn't look down on anyone? How can he do that as a prosecutor? He's prosecuting people he looks down on every day. If you voters elected someone who has no felony trial experience, you get what you deserve. What were you thinking? Stop complaining.

dj | 10:14 p.m. March 4, 2008

I was at the convention when Ms Miller was elected and listened to Lohra many times. She impressed me as one with high integrity and good ethics. Many people spent many hours listening to make the best decision on who should be the next DA.
It has been a while since the election, but as I remember, the senior prosecutors in the previous administration were not really prosecuting at all. The cases were given to junior prosecutors and criminals were getting off.
My point is that Lorha Miller made a good case in the election that there was need for change. She had prosecuted many people as a private attorney.

I hope that this gets resolved with the truth coming out. This will be important to watch for the next election.

Justin | 11:26 p.m. March 4, 2008

It is time for everyone to wake up to the fact that Horror Miller is not a competent DA. She is one by one kicking out and demeaning employees and putting in her own yes people. Why? If the reason isn't apparent, then you aren't looking for an answer.

Science Teacher | 11:22 p.m. March 4, 2008

I worked in that "previous" office and the above from dj is not true.

True: rookies handled large caseloads and may have dropped the ball here and there. That's the nature of being less experienced.

True: the major players had caseloads, most of which were big swingers and hard core felons. They didn't skate.

oh dj how wrong you are | 11:22 p.m. March 4, 2008

First off, Lohra wasn't a "private attorney"-- she was a contracted prosecutor who handled traffic offenses and misdemeanors. A far cry from complex felonies, violent crimes, and sex offenses. She's a true politician who talks the talk, but can't back it up. I worked at the DA's office for years, and finally had to leave because of her idiotic decisions and poor leadership. The senior prosecutors did carry a caseload-- AND they mentored younger prosecutors by co-chairing homicides with them. They also provided training and were PIO (public information officers) to the media. Nutcase (Lohra) has hired a recent college grad without a law degree as a PIO. He now has to try and explain legal issues in current high-profile cases to the media, which is bound to explode in a fire of ethical violations.

Mildly put, dj, you were bamboozled during the elections.

lawyer with 34yrs. experience | 11:53 p.m. March 4, 2008

The truth is: Kent Morgan did NOTHING wrong, and his termination will be overturned. This incident is simply one more piece of evidence that Ms. Miller lacks both the judgment and character to be the elected DA. Having NEVER prosecuted a felony offense, she falsely presented her credentials to the voters. At the convention, she played on anti-immigration fears and (falsely) proclaimed that illegal aliens don't do jail time for their criminal offenses, but are merely deported. This, of course, was simply pandering for votes when the truth is that every day illegal aliens, just like any other convicted criminal, are sentenced to jail or prison-- and then they are turned over to INS for deportation. Her ploy worked; it was a shrewd political move to get elected. In reality what that move revealed was a conniving and disingenuous personality devoid of the high ethical standards we should have in a DA. The voters were snookered. We chose a slick political operative wholly unsuited for the office and passed over a much better qualified Republican opponent (Kent Morgan) as well as a highly experienced and well-regarded Democratic challenger, Sim Gill.

Anonymous | 11:59 p.m. March 4, 2008

Hey dj,

Would you care to explain to all of us how a private attorney would prosecute someone?

That'd be great!

Morgan is probably guilty | 1:45 a.m. March 5, 2008

I find the amount of negative comments about Lohra Miller to be interesting since there is no evidence that he was fired for political reasons and there's enough evidence to support the possibility that he did leak information to his friend since at minimum he referred his friend to an attorney. Everyone is quick to assume that Morgan is innocent and are apt to condemn Miller for doing her job.

If Morgan had enough evidence to convince Miller and the personnel attorney of his innocence than he should have provided it at the time but he didn't and I suspect that the Personnel Attorney and the County Attorney were correct in their decision to take action against Morgan. Let's not forget that Miller is a public official who must run for re-election and isn't going to risk firing someone who didn't do anything wrong especially when he is a former political opponent who is still eligible to run against her. If the allegations are false or there was even a little doubt about his guilt a wise politician would not have taken the drastic action nor would a Personnel Attorney who wants to serve in multiple administrations.

C. U. Incourt | 9:00 a.m. March 5, 2008

I have worked with Kent for 24 years in various capacities. He is an ethical, humble, hard-working public servant. Any firm, public or private agency or consulting firm would be fortunate to have Kent in their employ. Kent has given his time and expertise to his partners in the criminal justice field. It is time for us to give back to him.

wow | 10:10 a.m. March 5, 2008

Wow, the last comment by "Morgan is probably guilty" comes from a severely uninformed person who has never had any dealings with Lohra. Obviously, they have far underestimated the stupidity and lack of professionalism that Lohra demonstrates. Everyone is apt to condemn Lohra for a reason-- because she's an incredibily poor leader with egotistical notions.

Former Clerk | 5:59 p.m. March 5, 2008

I worked with Kent when I was a law student intern. He is one of the best attorneys I have ever worked with-loyal, capable, and very, very smart. He was not however good at tolerating fools. Therein may lie his problem in getting along with Ms. Miller.

Lohra's Follies | 7:11 a.m. March 6, 2008

Elected heads of agencies often clear out those staff they see as a threat to their authority or those who might compete with them for reelection. Unfortunately, the loss of experience that has occured during Lohra's reign ultimately affects how the county prosecutes cases. Is the public being served well? Can it survive and thrive or is this a sign of things to come?

a legal lay-person | 10:05 a.m. March 6, 2008

I am not an attorney and certainly not well versed in legal issues. However, as a lay person, I have observed the actions of Miller. She embarassed our state with her comments on the Nancy Grace show. It was actually laughable--maybe she should have her spokesperson do the speaking! In regards to the Kent Morgan issue, she appears to be stacking the deck. She apparently has a problem with attorneys who are much more competent than her. She's quite intelligent in recognizing that they are a threat to her power and her ability to retain her office. Therefore, she must eliminate them. If they don't leave voluntarilly (as many have done), she simply fires them. I believe the DA should be a seasoned attorney--at least having experience with a variety of cases--and certainly having dealt with a number of felony cases. Miller has only been involved with misdeamenors. And now she makes critical decisions involving capital murder! And fires attorneys who win those cases! This may be a fatal blow to Miller. If not, I am sure she will find a way to hang herself. In any case, we need her gone!

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