A Highland man is facing eight felony counts after allegedly threatening to shoot a Utah County sheriff's deputy in the face and telling a judge's court clerk that he knew where the judge's children slept. Bryce David Huntsman, 29, was arrested on Sept. 26 and booked into Utah County Jail, where he is being held without bail.
According to ABC4 Utah, the case began when a family member requested a mental-health evaluation order for Huntsman, which a Fourth District Court judge signed. Utah County Sheriff's deputies traveled to Huntsman's residence to serve the order and reported hearing a male voice yelling inside the home; unable to make contact, they taped the order to his door. The sheriff's office then created an updated order, and deputies returned to serve it at the residence.
Investigators say Huntsman responded by leaving a threatening voicemail for one of the deputies, saying he would shoot the deputy three times and warning, “The next time you come over here and criminally trespass, you will be shot in your face,” per the same outlet's reporting. The judge's court clerk also began receiving a series of threatening emails that allegedly named the judge directly.
Threats Named Judge's Children and Home
In the emails, Huntsman allegedly mentioned finding out where the judge lived and claimed to know where the judge's children slept, telling the clerk the judge deserved the death penalty, the station reports. He is also accused of sending a photo of a handgun and claiming he had plenty of guns, along with a photograph of raw meat directed at the court clerk. Investigators say the emails included images of Huntsman himself, which were used to confirm his identity.
Huntsman now faces eight counts of influencing, impeding, or retaliating against a judge, a third-degree felony, along with four counts of interfering with a public servant, a Class B misdemeanor. Under Utah Code § 76-8-316, each felony count carries a maximum of five years in state prison and a $5,000 fine, while the interference misdemeanors each carry up to 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine under Utah sentencing guidelines.
A History of Standoffs With Local Police
This isn't Huntsman's first violent confrontation with law enforcement at the Highland residence. In September 2022, he was involved in a five-hour SWAT standoff with Lone Peak police after assaulting a family member and barricading himself in a basement bedroom with a large kitchen knife, threatening to kill officers if they entered, according to KSL.com.
Huntsman pleaded guilty in January 2023 under a plea in abeyance to third-degree felony assault on a police officer and a Class B misdemeanor assault charge. Those charges were ultimately dismissed in February 2025 after he completed court-ordered conditions — just 19 months before this new round of charges was filed.
Why Deputies, Not Local Police, Responded
While Highland contracts its municipal policing through the regional Lone Peak Police Department, civil process enforcement, mental health warrants, and jail operations fall to the Utah County Sheriff's Office, which explains why sheriff's deputies rather than Lone Peak officers served the evaluation order at Huntsman's home. The Sheriff's Office's Judicial-Courts Bureau is also directly responsible for courtroom security and serving court orders across Fourth District Court facilities.
The civil order deputies were attempting to serve falls under Utah Code § 26B-5-332, which allows a sworn application detailing a mental health crisis to let a court order emergency custody for evaluation when someone poses a danger to themselves or others. In 2024, the Utah Legislature passed House Bill 299, extending emergency hold times for severe mental health crises from 24 hours to up to 72 hours, giving medical facilities and law enforcement more time to stabilize individuals with suicidal or homicidal tendencies.
Part of a Broader Pattern of Threats Against Judges
The case lands amid a documented nationwide rise in threats against court officials. The U.S. Marshals Service logged 564 threats against federal judges in fiscal year 2025, and 448 threats across 325 unique judges in fiscal year 2026 through mid-September. A September 2026 report from the Rule of Law Lab, covered by PBS NewsHour, documented a rise in intimidation tactics targeting judges' families, including threats referencing home addresses and children — a pattern that mirrors the allegations against Huntsman.
Hoodline has covered similar cases of threats against judges across the country in recent weeks, including an LA voicemail death threat case and a Texas man charged over threatening calls to judicial staff. As with those cases, the charges against Huntsman remain allegations only, and he is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
