Prejudice

Wasatch County Sheriff Jared Rigby and former Summit County Sheriff Dave Edmunds have been criminally charged over alleged interference in the investigation of Kouri Richins, who was convicted in 2022 of murdering her husband. A grand jury indicted Rigby on Sept. 24 with second-degree felony obstruction of justice and a misdemeanor false-statement count, while Edmunds faces a third-degree felony obstruction charge. Both were booked and released the same day the charges were unsealed; the underlying indictments remain redacted pending a Nov. 4 hearing on whether to make them public.

The men are accused of failing to disclose Brady-Giglio material concerning former detective Eric Mainord, who led the Richins investigation and was later dropped as a trial witness amid misconduct allegations. Richins' attorneys argue the conduct may have undermined her fair-trial rights and have sought a new trial. Additional figures, including Park City's police chief, are reportedly under investigation, though no charges against them have been filed.

The Iowa House Ethics Committee voted along party lines to shelve a complaint against Rep. Shannon Lundgren, R-Peosta, effectively ending the inquiry without further action. The complaint, filed by Kaylara Hoadley, alleged Lundgren misused official resources by writing a character statement on Iowa House letterhead to a sentencing judge on behalf of David Lehmann, a regular customer at her family's restaurant who was convicted of lascivious acts with a child. The committee's three Republicans voted to dismiss the complaint with prejudice, while three Democrats sought independent counsel to investigate further, resulting in a deadlock that shelved the request.

Committee chair Rep. Bill Gustoff called Lundgren's judgment "poor" and "improper" but said no evidence showed a violation of Iowa Code. Lundgren denied wrongdoing, calling the complaint politically motivated. A separate complaint from Jennifer Hart alleging a related ethics code violation was unanimously dismissed. Lehmann was convicted in April after a retrial and received probation and sex-offender registration in lieu of prison.