OGDEN -- The drug trial of Jason Valdez has been bumped to April, as two of the key witnesses against him are strike force agents shot in the Jan. 4 firefight that left five officers injured and one dead.
Valdez achieved some Facebook notoriety when he posted comments and images from a 16-hour standoff in June with police in a downtown hotel.
The Weber-Morgan Narcotics Strike Force was trying to arrest Valdez on a drug distribution warrant when he barricaded himself in the Western Colony Inn, 234 24th St. He fired on officers, none of whom were hit, then shot himself to end the standoff, according to police.
Trial on the initial drug case had been set for early next month in 2nd District Court, with the attempted aggravated murder charge from the standoff to be resolved after the drug trial.
At a pretrial conference Wednesday, Judge Ernie Jones granted prosecutors a new April 12-13 trial date, because witnesses Shawn Grogan and Kasey Burrell are among the injured strike force agewnts.
Burrell remains hospitalized, listed in fair condition.
Weber County Attorney Dee Smith said the new date for the trial is not indicative of any prognosis for Burrell or Grogan.
"It's more about what dates the court had available, not the soonest the officers can be ready to go," he said. "Most court calendars are usually full a few months out."
Smith said injuries to the five officers will likely delay other cases "until everybody's healthy. We're still figuring that out as we go along."
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