Category: Utah Appellate Court Opinions
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Utah Supreme Court Narrows Human Trafficking Law in State v. Andrus
May 2025 – The Utah Supreme Court just made it harder to convict someone of child trafficking without solid proof of a transaction. In State v. Andrus, the court threw…
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Garner v. Kadince, 2025 UT App 80: Utah Lawyers Sanctioned for Citing AI Hallucinations
In a recent ruling, the Utah Court of Appeals sanctioned attorneys for submitting a legal brief containing fabricated case citations generated by artificial intelligence. This incident, involving the case Garner…
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State v Smith, 2025 UT App 35 – Destroyed Evidence
Smith was convicted by a jury at trial on a felony charge of rape. He raised several issues on appeal, including multiple claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, and a…
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Case Brief: State v Estes, 2025 UT App 10
The Court’s ruling in this appeal pertains to Rules 403 and 404(c) of the Utah Rules of Evidence. Rule 403 requires that evidence of other bad acts by a defendant…
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State v Chadwick, 2024 UT 34
In State v. Chadwick the Utah Supreme Court reviewed whether jury instructions provided by the district court violated the Unanimous Verdict Clause of the Utah Constitution. Facts Chadwick was charged…
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State v Molina, 2024 UT App 172
Facts Mr. Molina was offered a plea deal by the State, entailing a favorable State sentencing recommendation. Before the guilty plea was entered, however, the State withdrew their offer, claiming…
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State v Willden, 2024 UT 37
This appeal pertains to the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure, specifically rule 16(b)(4) which exempts a defendant from disclosing discovery materials that would be considered attorney work product. Facts In…
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State v Salazar-Lopez, 2024 UT App 61
Facts Mr. Salazar-Lopez “pled guilty to multiple sexual offenses against a child” that were committed while he was also a minor. At the time these offenses occurred Utah Code 76-3-209…
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State v Sparling, 2024 UT App 59
Facts During a lawful traffic stop for various vehicle infractions (a missing license plate, broken brake light, etc.) and “suspicious” driving behavior, officers discovered that the driver, Mr. True Sparling,…
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State v Ruiz, 2021 UT App 94
In State v. Ruiz, the Utah Court of Appeals addressed Fourth Amendment issues relating to the use of a drug detection canine (K9) to conduct a search of a vehicle…
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State v. Smith, 2022 UT 13
The Utah Supreme Court provided an analysis of Fourth Amendment search and seizures issues in the case of State v. Smith, 2022 UT 13. The opinion provides a number of…