Sentencing postponed for Anthony Murphy found guilty of brutal sexual assault

LOGAN — The judge overseeing the case involving Anthony Murphy, a 51-year-old Smithfield man found guilty of brutally assaulting a woman in 2009, has postponed sentencing for two-weeks after the defendant asked to be represented by a new attorney again.

Anthony appeared in 1st District Court Monday morning with his public defenders, Shannon Demler and Bryan Galloway.

Last week, Demler had filed an arrest of judgment, asking the court for a new trial. The motion stated 80-percent of the evidence presented by prosecutors during Murphy’s May trial was irrelevant to the 2009 assault.

During Monday’s hearing, Demler said he had met with Murphy at the jail as he prepared the arrest of judgment motion. He expressed surprise to learn that the defendant’s family had now hired a new attorney to represent him.

State attorney, Spencer Walsh protested the delay, saying that the case had gone on for seven-years and that Murphy had had plenty of time previously.

Walsh also noted how Murphy had changed attorneys before, causing the case to be delayed earlier.

Judge Thomas Willmore set a hearing date for June 23 and told Murphy he planned to move ahead with sentencing regardless of who was representing him.

In May, a jury found Murphy guilty of aggravated sexual assault and aggravated kidnapping, both first-degree felonies, forcible sexual abuse, a second-degree felony, and aggravated assault, a third-degree felony. During the trial, the victim testified how Murphy raped and assaulted her for over two hours, after she argued with him about a text message he’d received from another woman. He could face up to life in prison.

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