Babka’s Law Enforcement Certification Suspended It all started when 48-year-old Beau Babka used his city-issued credit card to put $120 worth of gas in his personal vehicle. Because of this mistake Babka, a Cottonwood Heights police officer, was charged with two counts of misusing public funds, both of which were felony counts. He would latter get these charges reduced to…
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Criminal Law
Utah’s Poaching Sting Operation
Hunting Violations Defense Lawyer It’s that time of year again. No, not college football (even though that did start yesterday with a victory by the Utes), but hunting season. It’s the time of year that men, women, and children bid farewell to the comfort of home and leave the crowded areas of St. George, Provo, Salt Lake, and Ogden for…
West Valley Teen Leads Police on High Speed Chase
16-Year-Old Boy Arrested Early Monday At about 2:45 this morning a police officer pulled up next to a vehicle that was at a stop sign without it’s lights on. The officer attempted to ask the driver of the vehicle some questions through the window of the vehicle, but was not satisfied with the answers he received. So the officer exited…
Criminal Defendants: Have an Attorney On your First Court Date!
Get Protected Right Away A lot of individuals who have been charged with a crime believe that they can handle the matter alone without an attorney. Other individuals believe that they can go to their first court date without an attorney and then look for an attorney thereafter. Recent developments in Salt Lake County demonstrate the need for a criminal…
Utah Man Gets Two Year Prison Sentence
Sentencing for False Bidding Tim DeChristopher was sentenced yesterday at the federal courthouse in Salt Lake City. DeChristopher who was earlier convicted of disrupting a federal oil and gas lease auction in 2008, did not receive the maximum penalty of 10 years but the two years sentence still incited outrage. In 2008 DeChristopher originally went to the BLM auction of…
West Valley Man Guilty of Murder
Jury Finds Guilty After Three Day Trial Thomas James Valdez who was charged with the murder of his girlfriend Maralee Andreason, was found guilty this month of murder and possession of a firearm. Andreason was found in the couples apartment in March 2010, and it was determined that she had died from blunt force trauma to the head that caused…
Salt Lake City Drug Bust Nets 12 Arrests
Drug and Prostitution Busts Police departments regularly do sting operations in order to catch individuals engaged in illegal activities. Police officers will regularly pose as prostitutes to entice individuals to commit unlawful behavior. Police officers will create a fake ad on a site such as backpages.com or craigslist.com advertising prostitution. When an agreed upon place and time are met, the…
Casey Anthony Found NOT GUILTY
A jury in Florida today found the now infamous single mother, Casey Anthony, not guilty in the murder of her 2 year old daughter. Anthony cried when the jury verdict was read and hugged her criminal defense attorney as the prosecutor sat shaking his head in unbelief. This certainly comes as a shock to many individuals who have been following…
Salt Lake City Veterans Court
New Court for Vets About 6 months ago a new program was implemented in Salt Lake City to help military veterans in their legal issues. The program recognizes that service members come home with war-related problems and ts strives to keep their charges from increasing to felonies and including jail or prison time. Since the court began Judge John Baxter…
Utah Immigration Enforcement Law May Get Repealed
The immigration bill permitting law enforcement to check the immigration status of anyone charged with a class A misdemeanor or above may find itself getting repealed. HB 497 and HB 116 (guest worker permit program) are still on Utah lawmaker’s table, this time with discussion of repealing both laws. The two different laws created a firestorm of discussion in Utah…