In 2005, Jerry Cooper caused to be filed a document with the Utah County Recorder’s office.  That filing would come back to haunt him.

The document bore the title ”Administrative Judgment.”  Now, that is not a document that I’ve ever seen filed at the County Recorder’s office. What’s important to understand is that the County Recorder doesn’t really examine documents to make sure they are legal before recording them.  Unless the document has a major error on its face, the County Recorder allows the document to be filed.  It’s then up to those concerned to determine whether it is valid.

In this case, the document said that it was a $4.5 million judgment against Lynn Davis.  Apparently, Judge Davis had signed an order quieting title to a piece of property.  Apparently, that did not sit well with Jerry Cooper.  In retaliation, he caused the “Administrative Judgment” to be filed.

So what is an “Adminstrative Judgment?”  It’s nothing.  It’s something that Jerry Cooper just made up.

That type of thing isn’t unheard of. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of “constitutionalists” running around this county.  They study the constitution, and more importantly, they study each other’s interpretations of the constitution.  At the end of the day, they come up with some pretty crazy ideas.

I was saw a criminal defendant argue that the District Court did not have jurisdiction over him because the U.S. flag in the court room had a fringe on it.  That fringe, destroyed the authority of the court.  Now, I’ve studied the U.S. Constitution.  No where does it say that if a court has a flag with a fringe, that court is invalid.  Even so, that defendant was passionate in his belief that the constitution prohibited flags with fringes.

I’m not sure where Jerry Cooper’s “Administrative Judgment” came from.  I can guess that under his interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, he was able to create his own court and hold a trial where he served as judge and jury.  The result was a $4.5 million judgment against Judge Davis.

If had created his own County Attorneys office and filed his judgment there, he would have been fine.  The problems arose when he filed his “Judgment” in the Utah County Attorney’s office.

The problem arose because if Judge Davis had attempted to buy or sell real property, a title company would have found the “Judgment” and would have refused to insure the transaction.  False ”Judgments” can have serious deleterious consequences when recorded with the Utah County Recorder.

In the end, Jerry Cooper was charged with four felonies for filing a “wrongful lien” with the Utah County Recorder.  He represented hmself at trial, never a good idea, and lost.  The jury convicted him on all four counts.

On appeal, he made some decent arguments.  Even if his arguments had some traction, he still lost.  Mostly because during the trial he did a poor job of preserving issues for appeal.