SCM NEWS & OPINIONS

  • BLOG
  • APPELLATE HIGHLIGHTS
  • EVENTS
  • FIRM NEWS
  • SHOW ALL

State v. Phillip, 2016 UT App 245 (Dec. 22, 2016)

The defendant argued that the district court erred in revoking probation, in part because Adult Probation & Parole was not supervising him at the time of the violation.  The Court of Appeals affirmed, holding (a) inaction of the agency charged with…

State v. White, 2016 UT App 241 (Dec. 15, 2016)

Appealing convictions of aggravated burglary and aggravated assault, the defendant argued an order authorizing force in obtaining a DNA sample violated his right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures.  Affirming, the Court of Appeals held the district court acted…

State v. Romero, 2016 UT App 242 (Dec. 15, 2016)

The court reversed the defendant’s conviction and remanded the case for a new trial, finding that the trial court’s admission into evidence of details of the defendant’s prior conviction for unemployment fraud was an abuse of discretion that prejudiced him.

In re E.K.S., 2016 UT 56 (Dec. 6, 2016)

In this privately-initiated parental termination proceeding, the mother had requested appointed counsel.  The court held that Utah Code § 78A-6-1111(2), which prohibits the appointment of counsel in private proceedings, was not facially unconstitutional, but agreed that the district court erred by relying…

In re Adoption of K.A.S., 2016 UT 55 (Dec. 6, 2016)

The court held that denial of counsel to the indigent father in this appeal from a parental-rights termination order violated the father’s federal due process rights.  The father did not preserve the constitutional argument for appeal, but the court found that the…

State v. Cruz, 2016 UT App 234 (Dec. 1, 2016)

In this child abuse conviction, the court held that it was error to allow a video recording of a Children’s Justice Center interview of the victim into the jury room during deliberations, reasoning that the recording was testimonial in nature.  The…