PROVO, Utah (AP) - Prosecuting outspoken polygamist Tom Green for bigamy and failing to pay child support was a bargain, prosecutors say.
Green was convicted in May after a year of preparation and a five-day trial. Total bill, $21,274.
"I can't imagine that other high-profile cases were done more cheaply," Juab County Attorney David Leavitt told the Deseret News in a copyright story. "We really scraped and counted our pennies."
Most of this money - $15,316 - went to pay for the services of Brigham Young University law professor Monte Stewart.
Leavitt hired Stewart, an expert on the U.S. Constitution, as co-prosecutor.
"He is without a doubt the best legal mind I've ever encountered," said Leavitt, brother to Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt. "We got a bargain with Monte Stewart."
At $100 per hour, Stewart said he worked at a significant discount. He usually charges $180.
Stewart, whom Green claimed was working on the case on behalf of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, prepared many of the case's memoranda and shared in the questioning of witnesses during the trial.
"I agreed to a reduced rate for a couple of reasons," Stewart said. "Frankly, Juab County is a less-able-to-pay client. I also did it as a public service."
Most other expenses were routine, including transcript costs, video projectors to show Green's numerous television appearances, and mileage costs. Juab County also paid $1,263 out of an indigent defense fund to Green's defense attorney, John Bucher.
One of the most talked-about expenses was Leavitt's $743 bill for a concealed weapons permit, a handgun and ammunition. Leavitt said he purchased the gun after receiving death threats.
The prosecutor charged the county for the gun because he saw the threats as a "work hazard."
Green will be sentenced next month. He faces up to five years in prison on each of four the bigamy counts.