Simarjit Singh Gill (born 1961) is an

Indian-American Indian Americans are Americans whose ancestry originates wholly or partly from India. The terms Asian Indian and East Indian are used to avoid confusion with Native Americans in the United States, who are also referred to as "Indians" or "Am ...

attorney and politician, the District Attorney for

Salt Lake County Salt Lake County is located in the U.S. state of Utah. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 1,185,238, making it the most populous county in Utah. Its county seat and largest city is Salt Lake City, the state capital. The co ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

, first elected to the office in November 2010.

Early life and education

Gill was born in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

where he lived until at least the age of eight, and graduated from Kearns High School. Gill graduated from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

with a B.A. degree in History and Philosophy. He received his J.D. degree and certificate of specialization in Environmental and Natural Resources Law from Northwestern School of Law (now

Lewis & Clark Law School The Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College (also known as Lewis & Clark Law School), is an American Bar Association#Accreditation of U.S. law schools since 1923, American Bar Association-approved private law school in the United ...

) at

Lewis and Clark College Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1867 and is situated on the historic M. Lloyd Frank Estate in South Portland's Collins View neighborhood. It is composed of three distinct but adja ...

in Portland, Oregon. Gill was admitted to the Utah Bar in 1993.

Career

Before his

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

election, Sim Gill worked as Salt Lake City's Chief Prosecutor. Gill ran for district attorney in 2006, losing to Lohra Miller. He defeated her in the 2010 election. On March 18, 2014, Gill announced his bid for a second term, and in November of the same year, defeated Republican challenger Steve Nelson, retaining his position as the District Attorney. In 2018, Gill announced that he would run for a third term, and in November of the same year, defeated challenger Nathan Evershed. Gill has collaborated on the creation and implementation of various therapeutic justice programs and alternatives to prosecution, including Mental Health Court, Veterans Court, Salt Lake City Domestic Violence Court, Misdemeanor Drug Court and the Salt Lake Area Family Justice Center.

Prominent cases

Gill participated in the prosecution of Brian David Mitchell, the man found guilty of the 2002

kidnapping of Elizabeth Smart Elizabeth Smart, Elizabeth Ann Smart, aged 14, was kidnapping, kidnapped on June 5, 2002, by Brian David Mitchell from her home in the Federal Heights, Salt Lake City, Federal Heights neighborhood of Salt Lake City, Utah. She was held captive by ...

. He filed felony corruption and bribery charges against Utah Attorneys General

Mark Shurtleff Mark Leonard Shurtleff (born August 9, 1957) is an American attorney, former three-term Utah Attorney General, and founder of the Shurtleff Law Firm and the Shurtleff Group. He was a partner in the Washington, D.C. office of the law firm Troutma ...

and John Swallow in 2014. Charges against Shurtleff were dropped in 2016, and Swallow was found not guilty of all charges in 2017. In July 2020 Gill ruled that the killing of Bernardo Palacios-Carbajal by police officers was justified, after video footage showed Palacios-Carbajal brandished a gun at officers. A crowd gathered at the District Attorney’s office to protest Gill’s decision, which eventually led to vandalism of the DA’s office as well as the surrounding road and allegations that protestors used

pepper spray Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, mace, or capsicum spray is a Tear gas, lachrymator (tear gas) product containing as its active ingredient the chemical compound capsaicin, which irritates the eyes with burning ...

on responding officers. Gill charged seven protestors with "gang enhancement" crimes which carry sentences up to life in prison. In August 2023, Gill announced that he would not charge officer Matthew Farillas, who had shot Linden Cameron, a 13-year-old unarmed autistic boy, six times. Cameron's mother stated responded, "He

ill ILL, or Ill, or ill may refer to: Places * Ill (France), a river in Alsace, France, tributary of the Rhine * Ill (Vorarlberg), a river in Vorarlberg, Austria, tributary of the Rhine * Ill (Saarland), a river of Saarland, Germany, tributary o ...

seemed like he was doing more of the defense attorney's work than the prosecutor's, so... it just doesn't make sense."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gill, Sim 1961 births Living people Lawyers from Salt Lake City District attorneys in Utah Utah Democrats Lewis & Clark Law School alumni University of Utah alumni American politicians of Indian descent Indian emigrants to the United States