Category: Attorney Resources
Articles posted in this section are intended to assist defense attorneys in Utah’s criminal courts and as an educational resource for law students or others studying criminal justice. Information in these articles is not legal advice and may not be suited to the facts of any specific case.
CONTACT AN ATTORNEY DIRECTLY IF YOU ARE FACING CRIMINAL CHARGES IN UTAH.
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Discovery – Prosecutor’s Duty to Disclose
Getting It Right – State v. Knight Prosecutors in some Utah jurisdictions incorrectly attempt to use language from the Utah Supreme Court’s 1987 decision in State v. Knight to justify their failure to fulfill discovery obligations in criminal…
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Vega v. Tekoh, Supreme Court of the United States
No. 21-499 – Argued April 20, 2022 – Decided June 23, 2022 The Court addressed the question of whether a police officer’s failure to give Miranda warnings was, by itself, enough to support a section 1983 civil rights…
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Competency Evaluations in Utah Criminal Cases
Utah law prohibits the prosecution of a person who is not “competent” to stand trial. The standards for competency in a criminal case are significantly different than standards used in a civil commitment or guardianship context. Whether the…
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Presumption of Innocence – Do We Still Believe?
Justification Hearings and the Presumption of Innocence in Utah Self Defense Cases HB 227 was passed by the Utah Legislature in 2021, creating certain procedural safeguards for a person charged with a violent crime when the available evidence…
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NHTSA SFST Training – Participant Manual (Refresher)
NOTICE: The material posted on this page is intended for use by attorneys defending clients facing criminal prosecution in Utah. The information contained in these materials must not be considered in isolation, but should read and interpreted in…
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Entrapment Defense in Utah
Entrapment as a Defense in Utah Criminal Cases An entrapment defense can form an important part of a successful criminal defense strategy in Utah. To understand entrapment, we can use fishing as an analogy. A hook is not…