by Benjamin Keller | Feb 19, 2025 | Utah Appellate Court Opinions
At trial Taylor was convicted by a jury of one count of sodomy on a child. Taylor later appealed that conviction on grounds that the district court judge abused their discretion by failing to strike two potential jurors from the jury pool. Facts of the Case During...
by Benjamin Keller | Feb 13, 2025 | Criminal Defense, Utah Appellate Court Opinions
This appeal pertains to whether a suspect’s admission at a police station should have been suppressed due to being made during a custodial interrogation without Miranda warnings being followed. Facts of the Case A four-year-old child told her mother that while she was...
by Benjamin Keller | Feb 12, 2025 | Criminal Defense, Utah Appellate Court Opinions
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 be excluded if the probative value of that evidence is substantially outweighed by its potential for...
by Benjamin Keller | Dec 18, 2024 | Criminal Defense, Utah Appellate Court Opinions
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 with four counts of sexual abuse of a child, each count correlating...
by Benjamin Keller | Dec 12, 2024 | Criminal Defense, Utah Appellate Court Opinions
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 that the prosecutor was not authorized to make the proposed...
by Benjamin Keller | Sep 16, 2024 | Utah Appellate Court Opinions
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 2021, Derek Willden was charged with physical and sexual...
