Audit sheds light on handling of complaint against Utah Supreme Court justice
A Utah legislative audit found the state's Judicial Conduct Commission "generally followed" its guidelines in handling a complaint against a former Supreme Court justice, but the panel's processes need improvement.
Official response and confirmed impact
Even though the commission largely followed its established rules, "the processes in this and the other cases we reviewed warrant improvement," the auditors' report concluded."The organizational weaknesses identified throughout this report extend beyond any individual case and could undermine the consistency, transparency, and defensibility of commission decisions," they wrote.
The chairwoman of the commission, Cheylynn Hayman, is close friends with Hagen, as KSL reported in May.
Todd Weiler."I've heard that (Hayman) recused herself," the Republican senator said on his podcast, "but not before kind of telling the rest of the committee, 'Well, you can't believe anything from (Hagen's) husband.
He's not a reliable source.'"Hayman previously told KSL Weiler's description of events was "not accurate." But she acknowledged telling commission members she had been "a victim of accusations at the hand of Tobin" in the past.
Incident under investigation
The report from the Office of the Legislative Auditor General specifically analyzed a case involving Diana Hagen, who resigned from the Utah Supreme Court in May after the governor and legislative leaders said they planned to investigate allegations that she had an improper relationship with an attorney who argued high-profile cases before the court.
'Risks to impartiality'The audit, which was released Wednesday afternoon, specifically highlighted one situation when the Judicial Conduct Commission — which is tasked with looking into allegations of misconduct by judges — weighed whether to move forward with a full investigation of Hagen.
Although she recused herself from the investigation, Hayman did so only after casting doubt on the source of the allegations — Tobin Hagen, the former justice's ex-husband — according to state Sen.
