Michael Jayne, 44, on trial for his life, sued Utah County alleging they were violating his constitutional right to a high-quality defense by providing inadequate funding.
SALT LAKE CITY — “If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you.” For more than 50 years, police officers have been required to inform every criminal suspect of this fundamental constitutional right. However, for Michael Jayne, 44—indigent, on trial for capital murder, and facing the death penalty if he loses—the spirit of that promise was not being fulfilled. Mr. Jayne filed suit earlier this year, alleging that his defense has been severely compromised because Utah County was refusing to sufficiently fund his defense.
“When the State seeks to execute someone, they have the responsibility to provide for a high-quality defense” says attorney Elizabeth Wang, who represents Mr. Jayne in his civil complaint. “This is a core tenant of our justice system.”
Michael Jayne has been detained in Utah County Jail since May 2024, awaiting trial in an aggravated murder case in which the County is seeking the death penalty. He was found to be indigent by the court in his initial appearance. Utah County contracts with outside attorneys to provide defense for indigent people accused of capital crimes. But aggravated murder cases—particularly death penalty cases—are extremely expensive, and capital defense representation is highly specialized work. In Mr. Jayne’s case, Utah County put a $200,000 cap on attorney fees, with an additional $80,000 for mitigation and $60,000 for investigation.
This, the complaint argued, is grossly insufficient for an aggravated murder case like Mr. Jayne’s where restrictions on hours for representation and investigation could mean the difference between life and death.
“If we are going to have a death penalty, we need to properly fund the defense,” says attorney Neal Hamilton. “These are the most serious cases we handle in our legal system. The State, and municipalities, pay premium rates for representation in civil cases. It is inexcusable that the State (and counties) continue to insist that offering rock-bottom contracts for defense in the most serious cases is acceptable. If the State wants to take someone’s life, they are constitutionally obligated to provide high quality representation. If they don’t want to pay for high-quality representation, they should not be trying to kill them.”
As of 1998, the State of Utah has an Indigent Aggravated Murder Defense Fund, which provides for the provision of constitutionally effective defense for indigent individuals. However, counties must opt in and contribute to the fund in order to benefit from it, and Utah County has declined to do so.
The amended complaint and the accompanying motion for a preliminary injunction, both filed in April 2026, asked the federal court to enjoin Utah County from further violations of Mr. Jayne’s rights, and for the provision of high quality and timely funding for his defense.
The federal district court held a hearing on Mr. Jayne’s motions in July. At the hearing, the court commented, “It appears to me that a $200,000 cap on a capital case is just flat out per se unreasonable. It cannot equate to constitutionally effective counsel.” Ultimately, the court ordered the parties to engage in settlement discussions over amending Mr. Jayne’s capital defense contract to provide more funding. As a result of the weeks-long negotiation, the parties reached a settlement that provides Mr. Jayne’s capital counsel with over $1.8 million (including fees and expenses already paid by Utah County) in funding for his capital case, with the ability to obtain more funding if reasonable and necessary and approved by a panel of capital-qualified attorneys.
Mr. Jayne is represented by Elizabeth Wang, Tara Thompson, and Jordan Poole of the civil rights law firm of Loevy + Loevy, and attorney Neal G. Hamilton of Hamilton Defense.
Click here for the complaint in this case.
Click here for the defense agreement.
Click here for the transcript of the hearing.