One of Christoper Tapp’s post-conviction relief petitions left without a ruling
There was a status conference at the Bonneville County Courthouse Tuesday morning to see whether one of Christopher Tapp’s post-conviction relief petitions would be dismissed. The hearing was left without a ruling from the judge.
Tuesday’s hearing was to see if Tapp’s petition for post-conviction relief would move to an evidentiary hearing or be thrown out.
Deputy prosecutor John Dewey asked the court to dismiss new discovery of two video recordings with Tapp’s polygraph sessions. He stated that the defense was bringing up evidence when it felt like it. Dewey said there is no basis for the discovery of the two recordings being a Brady violation, in which the prosecutors did not turn over all evidence which tends to show a defendant isn’t guilty. Dewey said there was “lack of evidentiary support for the claim” of a Brady violation, and that the claims are not legally or factually supported.
Defense attorney John Thomas said there was a due process issue and a Brady violation when it came to the dismissal of the new discovery. Thompson was emotional as he gave his case to the court saying, “Justice does not have an expiration date,” and he asked the court to stand upon its ruling.
“Just knowing there’s an innocent man sitting in prison. It’s hard. It’s hard for me to sleep at night. It’s hard for me to go home and tell my kids that this is the greatest justice system in the world. It’s hard,” said Thomas.
Judge Alan C. Stephens told the court he was not going to make a ruling from the bench Tuesday morning. Stephens said if he rules for the state, there will not be an evidentiary hearing. If he rules for the defense, there will be a status conference on Dec. 13.
“This is a case that needs to be looked at. The court needs to go through both of the briefs. It needs to go through all of the evidence that is set before him at this time. And [Judge Stephens] needs to look at all of the evidence and write a written opinion. Ruling from the bench of off the cuff just isn’t appropriate in this type of case. There’s so much at stake here,” Thomas said.
