County attorney is failing Uinta County

Diane White, Evanston Resident
Posted 2/1/19

Letter to the editor from Diane White

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County attorney is failing Uinta County

Posted

Editor:

There have been two cases in the newspaper in the last month that should raise the concern and ire of every citizen of Uinta County. One was a case in which a toddler was horribly abused, arm broken, evidence of other breaks and abuse that had never been reported.

Uinta County Attorney Loretta Howieson-Kallas bartered a reduced sentence and plea bargain to get him one year in county jail and probation.

The second case was when a long-time resident of our county was finally charged with sexual abuse of two minor children. Again, our county attorney worked out a plea bargain so he serves one year in county jail and probation. This is a travesty for our children. 

Why our own elected county attorney is too afraid to take a case to trial is a mystery to me. In both cases they cited the “trauma” the children would face. Well, in the first case, the toddler could not have testified anyway — the information about the abuse would have come from hospital and medical records.

The families in the second case would have happily permitted counseling and medical records to be used in court on behalf of their minor children. Is our system so broken we cannot prosecute those who prey on the most vulnerable among us? Can we not protect the innocence and lives of the children in our county because of archaic law? Or is our county attorney just too lazy to do the job she was hired to do?

I believe we all deserve some real answers in these cases. Justice was not served.

Diane White

Evanston