U.S. District Court issued another decision and order this week in the case between Veronica Wopsock versus Duchesne County Sheriff’s Deputy Derek Dalton and other parties. The lawsuit was filed in 2012 with Wopsock claiming that Deputy Dalton sexually assaulted her during a traffic stop on September 4th, 2011. The Utah Attorney General’s investigation detailed that Wopsock made the allegations in a federal lawsuit more than 9 months after the traffic stop took place and without ever having reported the incident to any law enforcement. Once the Sheriff’s Office learned of the lawsuit, Chief Deputy David Boren provided the Attorney General with the officer’s laptop where the video of the traffic stop was recovered. The Attorney General’s report along with forensic consultation of the video concluded that Wopsock’s claim that she was groped and fondled during the search did not in fact take place. The Attorney General’s report outlines that Wopsock was pulled over that day for speeding, 50mph in a 35mph zone, and that Wopsock was not wearing a seatbelt, the vehicle was revoked for no insurance and a child in the vehicle was not properly restrained. Wopsock pursued the claims multiple times in the following years with the claims being dismissed. According to court documents, the claims by Plaintiff Veronica Wopsock were most recently dismissed in December 2019 in the United States District Court for the District of Utah. Also in December 2019, Derek Dalton, Travis Mitchell, and Duchesne County sought an award for their costs under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure and a Motion for Attorney Fees and Paralegal Fees. Just this week on September 22nd, United States Chief District Judge Robert Shelby ordered the Defendants’ Bill of Costs in the amount of $3,450.25 and also granted in part the Motion for Attorney Fees of $90,634.25.
