By Travis Uresk
1/3/24
On 12/28/24, in Vernal, Utah, police from multiple departments responded to the report of a domestic violence incident in the trailer parks at 150 East 750 North.
A third-party complainant reported that she had been contacted by her juvenile son, who was staying the night at a friend's house. The juvenile told the complainant that an adult male and female were intoxicated, and they were arguing. The male had assaulted the female before leaving the residence in a white truck with a business name on the door,
Units responded to where the white truck was located at a nearby convenience store and were in contact with the male subject, 38-year-old Clinton Adam Lee. Vernal City Police arrived at the address and advised that the victim had sustained injuries to her face and neck and requested an ambulance. The female victim was taken to the hospital for treatment before Deputy Fairey arrived on scene.
Deputy Fairey met with the victim at the hospital to speak with her about the incident that happened earlier. The victim had obvious injuries and abrasions to her face and neck, along with numerous scrapes and contusions on her face and forehead. A large goose egg was just above the victim's right eye.
The victim told the Deputy she and Clinton had been drinking and arguing on and off since he arrived home from work; she didn't remember everything that took place. She said that earlier in the evening, Clinton assaulted her and punched her, causing an injury to her forehead. The two separated briefly, with Clinton going to a Vernal bar. The victim said she had followed him to the bar, where they briefly argued somemore.
The victim stated she had returned home and gotten into bed, and Clinton returned home a short time later. She said that she and Clinton resumed their argument, and Clinton became angry when he saw she was recording the argument on her cellphone. The victim said Clinton grabbed her around her throat and began to strangle her, causing her to lose consciousness briefly.
The female victim said that she didn’t remember everything that occurred because she had passed out but recalled she had been hit in the face several times.
The victim told Deputy Fairey that her juvenile son had been in the adjacent room with his friend, and they had overheard the argument.
The police that had responded to the scene had, with the victim's permission, spoken with the juvenile son. The son told officers that he had overheard his mother and Clinton arguing and recorded parts of the argument with his phone. The juvenile told officers that he had heard his mother screaming and had gone into the bedroom and saw his mother and Clinton on the bed.
Officers on the scene reported that the bedroom appeared disheveled, and the headboard had collapsed onto the bed during the incident.
Deputy Fairey had the opportunity to speak with Clinton before meeting with the victim at the hospital. Clinton was intoxicated and admitted that he and the victim had argued. Clinton wasn’t forthcoming while being questioned and provided a confusing timeline of events.
When Clinton was asked about the victim's injuries, he stated that he had been attacked by the victim, and she had previously been arrested for domestic violence. Clinton then showed the Deputy a bruise on his abdomen that he said he received from the victim.
Based on Deputy Fairey's investigation, he determined that a domestic violence incident had occurred at the residence, and Clinton was the primary aggressor. Clinton had previously been taken into custody and transported to jail on unrelated charges.
A review of Clinton's criminal history showed a history of assaults (including aggravated) and alcohol-related convictions. No domestic violence convictions were found on his criminal history, according to the affidavit.
Clinton Lee was booked into the Uintah County Jail.
Uintah County Jail, On 12/28/23, at around 11:00 am, Deputy Anderson was informed by Sgt Boren that Inmate Clinton Lee violated a protective order after having served a Jail Release Agreement (JRA) to Clinton.
Inmate Lee read aloud the terms of the agreement to the Deputy when it was served. It was also explained in simple and straightforward terms that the JRA prevented him from being on the same property, harassing the victim, contacting her, or asking anyone else to contact her for him, and he confirmed he understood the terms.
Deputy Anderson was notified minutes later by Sgt Boren that he had overhead Inmate Lee talking on the phone with his alleged victim. Inmate Lee also texted an unknown person while Sgt Boren was letting him record phone numbers to use to call family or friends after being booked. When Inmate Lee tried to text, Sgt Boren took the phone and returned it to the property hold.
Deputy Anderson looked up phone records where he found three calls to a phone number listed on the JRA.
In the phone calls, Inmate Lee can be heard telling the victim that he could get in trouble and catch new charges for choosing to call her. The Deputy heard Inmate Lee telling the victim that while he is in jail now, it's her chance to run, as well as telling her that if he gets bail, he plans on fleeing somewhere, probably to Mexico.
Deputy Anderson used a body cam to read Inmate Lee his Miranda Rights and interview him about the phone calls and the text message that he knew he wasn't supposed to do.
He eventually offered to show the Deputy the text message, which was sent to a number listed on the JRA when he was already in custody at the jail. The content of the text wasn't threatening and seemed to be a response to a previous message from the victim.
Conclusion: I am charging Inmate Clinton Lee with four counts of 76-5-108 Violation of a Protective Order due to the fact I can see on recordings Lee both called and texted the alleged victim number listed on Lee's Jail Release Agreement, as well as that fact he admitted to contacting her when I asked during Lee's interview. Due to the potential flight risk expressed directly by Clinton Lee, I recommend no bail be given.~Deputy Anderson
If you are a victim of any kind of abuse, here are a list of numbers to call to get help in just about any kind of situation.
Uintah County Attorney’s Victim Advocacy
UINTAH BASIN RESOURCE DIRECTORY
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