Pubdate: Thu, 07 Nov 2002
Source: Deseret News (UT)
Copyright: 2002 Deseret News Publishing Corp.
Contact:  http://www.desnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/124
Author: Geoffrey Fattah

HARDING SAYS NO TO A HEARING

A 4th District judge charged with felony drug possession said he wanted to 
forgo a preliminary hearing Wednesday to spare his family any more unwanted 
publicity about his alleged drug use.

Judge Ray Harding Jr., who appeared in 3rd District Court for a scheduled 
preliminary hearing before Judge Timothy Hanson, also threw a verbal barb 
at his estranged wife, Anne Harding, who a few weeks ago filed for a 
protective order against him on behalf of herself and some of their children.

Anne Harding said she feared retaliation from Harding against her and their 
children for turning him in but later admitted that she did not seek 
consent from Harding's adult son, Justin, in naming him in the petition. In 
a letter to the court, Justin Harding stated that he did not fear his 
father and that he did not give Anne Harding consent to put his name on the 
protective order.

"Since my brief marriage to Anne, these children have been manipulated and 
hurt significantly," Harding said. The couple have been married just over 
two years.

During a hearing for the protective order last month, Anne Harding admitted 
to sending a press release to various media, informing them that her 
husband was returning from a three-month stint at the Betty Ford Clinic in 
California and would be served with protective order papers at the airport 
gate.

Harding was arrested in his Highland home last July and later charged with 
two third-degree felony counts of drug possession. Since then, he has been 
in paid suspension from the bench, pending the outcome of the case.

Anne Harding says she had no choice but to turn her husband over to police 
after months of trying to get him to seek drug counseling for an alleged 
addiction to cocaine and heroin.

In court Wednesday, Harding pleaded not guilty to the charges but told the 
court he was waiving his right to a preliminary hearing, at which time the 
prosecution is compelled to bring forward its evidence against him.

Harding's attorney, Ed Brass, explained that he believed the state had 
sufficient evidence to have the matter bound over for trial and that a 
preliminary hearing was not needed. Hanson reminded Harding that typically 
a preliminary hearing can be used by defendants as a discovery tool and a 
chance to test witnesses. "The state has an exceedingly small burden of 
proof," in such matters, Brass said outside court, pointing to more than 
1,000 pages of prosecution evidence, "there really isn't anything new that 
I'd learn in a preliminary hearing."

Hanson bound the case over for trial, which he will preside over in an 
effort to avoid a conflict of interest by having a 4th District judge preside.

Regarding the trial, which has been scheduled for March, Brass requested 
that the trial take place in Salt Lake City, as opposed to Provo, where 
Harding presided as a judge. "For the record, we feel this is the 
appropriate location for trial for a number of reasons," Brass said. Hanson 
said he would address that request at a later time.

Brass said he plans to file a motion to suppress state's evidence in the 
case, which he must file by Jan. 3, 2003. Brass declined to say what 
evidence he wants suppressed.

If convicted, Harding faces a punishment of up to five years in prison and 
the possibility of losing his position as a judge and an attorney.
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