PROVO, Utah — A judge found that Utah County Attorney David Leavitt made an ethics violation in a double-homicide case, but nothing is going to change.
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The ruling has to do with the deaths of Breezy Otteson and Riley Powell, whose bodies were found in an abandonded mine.
During a news conference in 2018, Leavitt described the suspect, Jerrod Baum, as having treated the victims’ like “garbage” or “trash.” In a ruling Monday, a state judge said those remarks broke ethics designed to ensure a fair trial.
But after those statements, Leavitt agreed to let his deputies handle the case, and the judge had earlier ruled the pool would be expanded to ensure impartial jurors.
The judge also said Leavitt’s office committed an ethics violation by not stopping a Utah County sheriff’s sergeant from giving a radio interview.
Baum has pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 23 in Provo.
