Drug Convictions Lead to a Six Month Loss of Driver License If you get a drug possession conviction, Utah law generally requires that you lose your driver license. One of the most annoying collateral consequences of a drug conviction is the loss of a driver’s license. This is true for the simplest of marijuana possession charges to the most serious…
Fourth Amendment Requirements With Regards to Traffic Stops Whether an informant tip is sufficient to give law enforcement reasonable suspicion to make a traffic stop is determined by three factors. The Fourth Amendment’s prohibition of “unreasonable searches and seizures” extends to temporary detentions, such as traffic stops. See U.S. Const. amend. IV; Brendlin v. California, 551 U.S. 249, 255 (2007).…
How Violating a Child Support Order Becomes Criminal Nonsupport Criminal nonsupport is a crime brought against individuals who do not comply with their duty to provide for their children. Every parent has the moral (and legal) obligation to provide for the support and maintenance of their children. In every divorce involving children the court is primarily concerned with ensuring that…
What is the Exclusionary Rule? The exclusionary rule keeps out illegally obtained evidence. There are three exceptions to the exclusionary rule. The exclusionary rule, in simple terms, allows courts to rule that a piece of evidence is inadmissible if it was obtained through illegal means by law enforcement, typically through an illegal search. If the evidence is important enough and…
The Four Types of Attorney Fees Sanctions In general, a prevailing party may not recover attorney fees unless such an award is authorized by statute or contract. But four sources of authority permit a court to award attorney fees or other costs in a situation where one party has been uncooperative and failed to comply with discovery requests and court…
In an opinion released early this week the Supreme Court of the United States has yet again ruled against protecting individuals rights and has given law enforcement even more power to harass and torment the masses. The case referred to is Heien v. North Carolina, and the summary of the case is as follows: “The Court affirmed the decision of…
What Is Imputation of Income? The Utah Court of Appeals decided Christian v. Christian and once again addressed the proper analysis for determining an imputation of income. In that case the wife argued on appeal that the trial court had improperly imputed to her income and asked the court to reverse the trial court’s decision. Although the court did not…
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…
If your thinking about taking a plea agreement, and a high restitution award is part of the agreement, you should be fully aware of how this could potentially come back to bite you. Many individuals agree to high restitution claims in exchange for little or no jail...
So you are thinking about separating. Maybe things are so bad between you and your soon to be ex that you just can’t take it anymore and are moving out. Before you make that choice you should fully understand that if you leave the home, and the children behind, you are establishing a new status quo which might not be…
