Judge allows state prosecution of mixed-blood Ute

Wednesday, April 30, 2008  

A judge in Utah says a descendant of a mixed-blood Ute can be prosecuted in state court.

Jesse Doyle Clark said he is a member of the Uintah Band of Ute Indians. He argued that the state can't prosecute him for a crime that took place within the boundaries of the Uintah and Ouray Indian Reservation.

But Judge A. Lynn Payne said Clark, who was 16 at the time of the a near-fatal stabbing in October 2004, failed to show he is a member of a federally recognized tribe. Congress terminated the mixed-blood Utes in 1954.

Payen also said Clark didn't prove he had enough blood to be considered an Indian. A recent state Supreme Court decision upheld state jurisdiction over Utes who were terminated.

Get the Story:
State allowed to prosecute man (The Salt Lake City Deseret News 4/30)

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