Former banker acquitted of felony charges

Friday, June 21, 2002 | 11:17 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

A former bank executive known for his all-night rave parties was acquitted Thursday in Salt Lake City of charges he possessed methamphetamine and exposed his daughter to pornography. Both were third-degree felonies, punishable by up to five years in prison.

"I want to thank the jury ... and I want to call my daughter," Dale Gibbons said after the verdict Thursday. Gibbons formerly was the chief financial officer of Salt Lake City-based Zions Bancorporation, owner of Nevada State Bank.

Prosecutors had claimed Gibbons called attention to his drug and "raving" lifestyle by holding parties that prompted complaints from neighbors.

Gibbons, 42, testified Wednesday that the methamphetamine was his girlfriend's and there is no evidence his daughter ever saw the pornography.

"I think Dale's testimony was what made the difference. They saw that he wasn't guilty," defense attorney Kristine Rogers said.

During closing arguments, prosecutor Katherine Bernards-Goodman said so much pornography was around the house that Gibbons' 15-year-old daughter couldn't have avoided seeing it.

"We're not talking about Playboy here. This is sadomasochistic stuff," she said.

Police began investigating Gibbons in October 2000 after complaints of loud parties at his home in the Salt Lake suburb of Holladay. When police responded to a 911 call from Gibbons after his girlfriend and daughter overdosed, sheriff's deputies saw several boxes of sexually explicit items.

Police returned 10 days later with a search warrant, and said they found methamphetamine in his nightstand drawer and adult magazines in his daughter's bedroom. Gibbons resigned as chief financial officer of Zions, a job paying $450,000 per year, shortly after his arrest. Attorneys said he remains unemployed.