Reader comments
Utah CEO cleared of fraud charges

MarkS | 3:33 p.m. Nov. 3, 2009

Asst AG Bell wastes taxpayer money and essentially engages in six years of harassment in a poorly presented case, and "can live with that". I'm not impressed by his cavalier attitude toward prosecutorial responsibility and limits to their search for criminals.

Unbelievable | 3:37 p.m. Nov. 3, 2009

Every criminal will be wishing for this judge. What a lame reason for letting this criminal go free.

Wonder how he is connected???

Jeremy | 3:42 p.m. Nov. 3, 2009

Thanks Utah for wasting my tax money on a case that had no relevnace or purpose.

Comments continue below

Too many Attorneys | 3:51 p.m. Nov. 3, 2009

We have too many attorneys. They produce little and are always in search of the next payday. For public sector attorneys, the "pay-day" is a high profile conviction. For private sector attorneys, it is the monster civil suit. While theoretically good can come from these type of cases, much of the time it is simply a waste of societal resources that lines the pockets of attorneys. Stop churning out so many attorneys and start educating engineers and doctors. At least they produce something...

RE: Unbelievable | 4:52 p.m. Nov. 3, 2009

Just a point of interest to you. Judge Boyden is an outstanding Jurist and is extremely respected in and out of the legal community.
The fact of the matter is this case was poorly presented and if criminals have a wish at this time it would be that Asst AG Bell present the case against them because he was lax in his preparation and presentation.
Don't throw rocks in a glass house especially when your knowledge is lacking.

iThinkStuff | 6:32 p.m. Nov. 3, 2009

[Unbelievable said, "What a lame reason for letting this criminal go free"]

Since when is NOT being guilty of a crime a "lame reason" to be free?

Mark Shurtleff's office (AG & 2010 Senate Candidate) had SIX YEARS to build this case... it was dismissed in 3 days. Hall is innocent, but even if he wasn't, what does it say about how the AG's office is run?

Are they incompetent?
("I believe that the evidence COULD have resulted in a verdict in our favor." -capitalization added)

Are they harassing a citizen?
("..lost a job at the Children's Miracle Network and his business has been severely damaged...Hall is rebuilding his life after being under investigation since 2003.")

After 6 years of resources culminate in a 3-day trial which ends in failure, what does it say about his judgment?

What does it say that he picked an Asst. AG who said, "I can live with that and try to do better next time."?

Mark Shurtleff may agree with 6 years of wasting tax-payer money and putting pressure on a Utah citizen, but I'm not so sure Utah's citizens feel the same.

Prosecutors are getting lazy | 11:01 p.m. Nov. 3, 2009

Too many Utah jurors have been handing out guilty verdicts out of blind obedience to authority.

Perhaps this acquittal will send a message to prosecutors to screen cases more throughly before trying to extort a guilty plea from an over-charged defendant, and quit harassing the rest of us.

Lame | 11:45 p.m. Nov. 3, 2009

I cant believe Utah can support litigation based on scarce evidence. If the tax payer is expected to participate in "bringing it" to a private citizen - I would at least hope the state would weigh the potential cost vs. benefit. What a joke! Glad we could keep the Utah legal system working while we probably handicapped a businessman and company from creating jobs and tax revenue during a recession. What a shame.....what a complete waste of resources...

goneskiing | 2:26 p.m. Nov. 4, 2009

How is it the Attorney General ever let this one out of the gate? There were no apparent victims, the audit backed up the defense, and this all took six years to ferret out the obvious result. I gotta wonder what instigated this case?

IncompetentAG | 3:14 p.m. Nov. 4, 2009

The two Assistant AGs who tried this case -Bell and Shelly Coudreau - are two of the most incompetent attorneys in all of Utah. They had a "deer in the headlights" look the entire trial. The person who served me my Egg McMffin this morning could have presented a better case! Absolute and total incompetence.

Anonymous | 3:47 p.m. Nov. 4, 2009

Reminds me of the Duke lacrosse team. Many young men had their lives devastated by a power hungry, publicity seeking lawyer. How sad. I hope this man can completely rebuild his life after this sham. I wonder how much he had to pay in legal fees to defend himself.

Left2right | 5:34 p.m. Nov. 4, 2009

"the first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers," Henry VI, act 4, scene, 2; William Shakespeare.

anonymous | 7:30 p.m. Nov. 4, 2009

It is truly a shame what was done to this person. It will take years to rebuilt his name. It did not only hurt him it also hurt everyone that worked or works for him. He had to let people go that had a job and could support a family. I am sure not only are we paying court cost we are paying welfare cost for the ones that lost jobs. This needs to end in our country. We need to stop the dishonest lawyers that want to make a name for themselves. I guess this time it did not work!

NoOffense | 12:33 p.m. Nov. 5, 2009

And ... of course, no offense to people who work at McDonalds or serve Egg McMuffin's or Hash Browns for a living.

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