Judge signs dismissal with prejudice in State v. Mark Allen; will grant expungement if no victim objection

A Utah district judge on the record agreed to dismiss the State's 2021 case against Mark Allen with prejudice and indicated he will grant Mr. Allen's motion for expungement if no objection is filed within the statutory 60-day victim-notice period.

Judge Lennon opened the hearing by confirming appearances and stating the court's limits: "Anything you file in that case, I can't consider because it's closed," he told Mark Allen, explaining that civil claims such as a 42 U.S.C. A7 1983 action must be filed in a separate civil proceeding. The judge said a 60-day window for the alleged victim to object runs through Oct. 13, and his intent was to grant the expungement if no objection is lodged.

Dustin Parmley, counsel for Mr. Allen with the public defender's office, moved to withdraw, saying Mr. Allen had submitted a flurry of filings without consulting the office and that the filings exceeded the scope of their representation. "We move to withdraw this time," Parmley told the court; Judge Lennon granted the motion.

Craig Peterson, an attorney with the Utah Attorney General's Office, summarized the files' procedural history and told the court the state would "on the record today stipulate to the expungement of this case." Peterson said his appointment had been limited to prosecuting the charge and that once the case was dismissed the state had no further role in the matter.

Mr. Allen urged the court to toll (pause) the expungement while a separate criminal investigation proceeds. He said he has new evidence he plans to provide to a special investigator and argued that immediate expungement could "cover up criminal evidence." He described a long history of alleged misconduct, saying the "stack of evidence is 7 feet tall" and asserting that prosecutors previously withheld exculpatory material.

The judge said he lacked jurisdiction to act on filings in the dismissed criminal case beyond the expungement motion and the dismissal question, but he agreed to sign a proposed order to dismiss the 2021 case with prejudice. He also agreed to hold the expungement certificate and await communication from the Attorney General's Office about Mr. Allen's request to toll the expungement pending any criminal investigation.

Next steps: Judge Lennon signed the order dismissing the case with prejudice and said he would hold the expungement matter until the court hears back from the Attorney General's Office or until the 60-day statutory notice period for the alleged victim lapses.