Defense Attorneys Protect Your Fourth Amendment Rights One of our basic constitutional and human rights is to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures without a warrant issued under oath by a magistrate. Over the many years of our Republic the law of search and seizure under the Fourth Amendment has changed significantly and there are a myriad of exceptions…
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Criminal Rights
We May Have to Say Goodbye to the Fourth Amendment in Utah
Police Power Enlarged by Court The Indiana Supreme Court ruled in Barnes v. State, a domestic violence case, that a police officer can enter any home for any reason. Homeowners can’t do anything to stop the officer from entering. This ruling is not only in direct conflict with the Fourth Amendment of the US Constitution, it goes against hundreds of…
Miranda Warnings in Utah When Questioned At Home By Police
The Custody Requirement for Miranda Warnings Under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution, criminal suspects have a right to remain silent and to be free from police interrogation. Most people know that they have certain rights called Miranda rights wherein police have to notify a criminal suspect that he has a right to remain silent because anything said…
Criminal Rights Affirmed by Utah Supreme Court
Utah Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Defendant The Utah Supreme Court can rarely please everyone. The Court often decides heated issues that will make some happy and others upset. This trend continued this week with a new ruling by the Court that makes prosecutors unhappy while making a Utah criminal defense lawyer rejoice because criminal defendants are ensured more…
Utah Court of Appeals Issues Troubling Decision in DUI Case Regarding Anonymous Informants
Today the Utah Court of Appeals issued a decision ruling that anonymous informants need not identify the crimes they witness with any specificity. In Salt Lake City vs. Keith Street the Mr. Street appealed from his conviction for DUI after the trial court denied his motion to suppress evidence. In Mr. Street’s case a woman who was at Liberty Park…
Say NO to Utah Police | Marijuana Criminal Defense
Utah Police Intimidate People into Compliance Utah police officers can be intimidating for many people. A police car’s flashing lights, an officer’s gun, or the big shiny badge they wear can inflict fear into the hearts of the guilty criminal and the innocent citizen. Because of a police officer’s intimidation factor, many people feel obligated to allow a police officer…
Utah Police Authority to Stop and Detain Motorists
Utah Police May Stop and Request Identification Utah police have expansive authority to briefly detain subjects for investigative purposes on information amounting to reasonable suspicion. It is proper for Utah law enforcement officers to demand identification from a person because the U.S. Supreme Court said that requesting identification of a person has a immediate relation to purpose, rational, and practical…
What Constitutes a Stop or Seizure in Utah
Certain Utah Police Actions Constitute a Stop or Seize When a person is seized, that is to say stopped by a Utah police officer for something like a marijuana possession, the fourth amendment of the U.S. Constitution is implicated. When is a person actually considered seized or stopped under the fourth amendment though? Not every personal interaction between Utah police…
Stop and Frisk | Reasonable Suspicion in Utah
Utah Police Don’t Need Probable Cause to Stop and Frisk The amount of justification required for search or arrest in Utah is probable cause. Utah law enforcement performs many activities that do not reach the level of full scale intrusions such as search or arrest. Utah police routinely stop citizens on the street or pull them over while driving in…
Common Law Defense of Entrapment in Utah
Criminal Activity Cannot be Instigated by Police Sometimes law enforcement resorts to unusual means to investigate crimes such as prostitution where participants and witnesses are unlikely to come forward to report them. Undercover officers may pretend to be someone else to catch a person acting criminally. When the government crosses the line between investigating a crime and instigating it, the…