Criminal Pretrial Protective Order and Domestic Violence When a defendant in a domestic violence case goes to court, the judge can enter a criminal pretrial protective order against him. You may have heard of a civil protective order, which permits an individual who has been the victim of violence or threats of violence by a cohabitant to restrain the aggressor…
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Criminal Law
Rule Now Requires Probable Cause Statement in 24 Hours
Rule 7 Sets Forth What Must Happen in the Event of an Arrest Rule 7 of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure governs what law enforcement must do if they make an arrest without a warrant. That rule was recently changed for the benefit of criminal defendants. One of the important changes made is that a written probable cause statement must…
Infographic Explaining Utah Criminal Court Process
Here’s a great infographic describing how the Utah criminal court process works from start to finish. How the criminal court process works in Utah.
Assault Against School Employees | Utah Defense Attorney
Specific Groups are Protected by Utah Law Utah law usually describes criminal offenses as applying broadly to all people. There are some Utah laws, however, that protect special groups of people because Utah state legislators feel these people deserve special protection. One such group receiving special protection are school employees. The Utah criminal code contains special provisions regarding crimes and…
Utah Leads Nation in Federal Marijuana Convictions on Public Lands
Last month, the Salt Lake Tribune published an interesting story describing the high number of federal drug possession convictions which occur each year in the state of Utah. The majority of these federal drug crimes occur on public lands. Last year alone, over 165 people in Utah were charged with drug possession on federal lands, mostly in the big state parks…
How A Felony Affects A Nursing License Application in Utah
The Utah Legislature has taken a hard line against registered nurses who are convicted of felonies. In fact, even a felony plea in abeyance has serious adverse consequences to applying for a nursing license in Utah. Under Utah statutes (Utah Code 58-31b-302), a nursing license is conditional on a criminal background check. When a nurse applies for a license through…
DA Finds Danielle Willard Shooting Unjustified
This week, the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office declared the shooting and death of Daniele Willard was unjustified. Danielle Willard was a young woman who was gunned down in a parking lot in West Valley over nine months ago by two West Valley City police officers. This past Thursday, district attorney Sim Gill announced at a press conference that the…
Money Laundering Defense Lawyer in Utah
What is Money Laundering? In Utah, an individual can be charged with money laundering for the following reasons: He transports, receives, or acquires property/money which derives from an unlawful activity, and he knows the that the property/money is the proceeds of the unlawful activity; He makes property/money which derives from an unlawful activity available to someone else whether by transaction,…
The Preliminary Hearing in A Utah Criminal Case
In the recent case State v. Maughan, 2013 UT 37, the Utah Supreme Court clarified the standard that applies to binding over a defendant for trial at a preliminary hearing. A preliminary hearing is a “probable cause” hearing. At that hearing the State has the burden to prove that there is enough evidence to support the court forcing the defendant to…
Noteworthy Laws Take Effect Today in Utah
It is the officially the first of July today which means many of the new laws passed by the state legislature earlier this year take effect. While there are some laws passed that will affect very few individuals, there are a number that are noteworthy and all or many of us should be aware of. In fact, many states across…