CEDAR CITY - The former chief of the Parowan Police Department entered into a diversion agreement that 5th District Court Judge John Walton signed Wednesday, effectively dropping charges of obstruction of justice, a class A misdemeanor and official misconduct, a class B misdemeanor.
Preston Griffiths served as chief of police in Parowan for more than 20 years before retiring in August 2011. His retirement came after he was charged with obstruction of justice and official misconduct stemming from a July 19, 2010, incident in which Griffiths allegedly shot and killed a dog belonging to Parowan resident Amber Burton. Griffiths also allegedly lied to Burton about the incident.
The Millard County Attorney's Office took charge of the case to avoid a conflict of interest.
Griffiths' attorney, Ronald Yengich, who said an agreement to sign a diversion agreement had been made, waved a preliminary hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
Diversion is an agreement between a defendant and the state wherein the state agrees to drop charges if the defendant does not break any laws for a set period of time.
The terms of the diversion agreement between the state and Griffiths state that Griffiths will not commit any law violations, with the exception of minor traffic issues, for a period of six months. During this time Griffiths is also required to keep the Millard County Attorney's Office advised of his address. In return, the state will drop all charges against Griffiths with prejudice, meaning they cannot bring the same charges against Griffiths again.
If Griffiths breaks the terms of the agreement, he can be fined up to $1,000 and spend up to six months in Iron County Jail.
Yengich said the agreement was filed in July 2011, but for unknown reasons Millard County Deputy Attorney Patrick Finlinson, who represented the state, did not sign the agreement until Wednesday
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