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William W. Barrett (born August 30, 1945) is a judge for the Utah Third Judicial District.

Early Life and Education
William Barrett was born in Los Angeles, California on August 30, 1945. His father was active in the military, and subsequently the family moved around the country for much of his early life. When he was three years old the family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. Judge Barrett graduated from Olympus High School in Holladay, Utah. After high school, he spent six year in the Navy Reserves, two of them in active duty as a third class torpedoman. Barrett earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Utah in 1970, and his J.D. from the University of Utah College of Law in 1973.

Legal Career
After graduating from law school, Judge Barrett worked as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Utah until 1979. In 1979, he joined the firm of Marsden, Orton, and Liljenquist in Salt Lake City. He later joined the Salt Lake City firm of Kipp and Christian in 1984, specializing in medical malpractice defense for the next 12 years. He was a shareholder and treasurer of the firm at the time of his appointment to the bench.

Judicial career
Barrett was appointed to the bench in 1996 by Governor Michael O. Leavitt. He filled the seat vacated by Justice Michael R. Murphy when he left the Third District after being appointed by President Clinton to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Judge Barrett served on the Online Court Assistance Program Policy board, as chair of the Board of District Court Judges and as the associate presiding judge in the Third District Court. He also served on the Utah Judicial Council, the administrative governing board of the Utah Court System.

Gary Gilmore
On January 17, 1977, Gary Gilmore was executed by a firing squad at the Utah State Prison. The execution ended the life of a man who had killed at least two people and who had spent 18 of his 36 years behind bars for various offenses. Two aspects of the case kept it on the front pages for months. First, the death penalty had been reinstated in the United States in 1976 after a 10-year hiatus and Gilmore was to become the first prisoner to be executed following its reinstatement. Second, he fought the justice system to ensure he would be executed quickly.

The day before Gilmore was set to be executed, Utah Federal district court judge Willis Ritter issued a stay of execution. At the time, Judge Barrett was an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Utah and was active on the case. The case was immediately appealed on an expedited basis to the Tenth District Court of Appeals in Denver, CO. A panel of Tenth Circuit judges overturned the appeal, and Gilmore was executed the next morning.

Judge Barrett is also featured in Norman Mailer's book about the events surrounding the Gilmore case, The Executioner's Song.

Jason Clark Murder Case
Jason Clark shot and killed one man, shot and injured two women, and shot a service dog in a drug deal gone bad. Judge Barrett sentenced Clark for eight first-degree felony charges: 20 years to life in prison for aggravated murder; two five-years-to-life terms for two counts of attempted aggravated murder; 15 years to life for each of three counts of aggravated kidnapping; and another five-years-to-life term for aggravated robbery. All terms are to be served consecutively.

Clark was also ordered to serve a concurrent five-years-to-life term for aggravated burglary. For a charge of cruelty to animals he was given 180 days, but that term was suspended.

This was the longest prison sentence handed out by Judge Barrett to date (2011).

Personal life
Barrett has been married since 1970 and has three daughters, the youngest of which is a lawyer. Barrett is a skier and an avid motorcycle rider; he owns a Harley-Davidson Road Glide.