Thornton appealed a district court’s decision basing the length of Thornton’s sentence, in part, on the treatment and vocational services he would receive in jail. The Tenth Circuit held that the district court erred by improperly relying on the availability of…
Trial counsel’s failure to provide the defendant a meaningful opportunity to participate in the in-chambers voir dire of potential jurors, either by being physically present or through discussion after, constituted deficient performance. Without deciding whether voir dire is, as a…
This appeal arose out of a dispute over the proceeds of a life insurance policy. Before his death, the policy owner disinherited and divorced his spouse, but he failed to change the beneficiary designation. The Supreme Court held that, in the…
In a dispute over election results, the court held that Utah Code § 20A-4-403(2)(a)(ii) unconstitutionally extended the Court’s original jurisdiction, because the Legislature cannot alter the Court’s original jurisdiction by statute.
The Utah Supreme Court answered the question left open in Federal National Mortgage Association v. Sundquist, as to the appropriate remedy for a violation of Utah Code § 57-1-21, which requires a trustee of a nonjudicial foreclosure sale to maintain an office within…
Uintah County sold property at a tax sale without providing the required notice of the sale to the holder of mineral rights on the property. The mineral interest owner filed suit challenging the validity of the tax sale 13 years…
After defendants’ convictions for failure to file tax returns were overturned, the district court denied their request for a refund of tax penalties and interest they had paid pursuant to a restitution order. The court held that the order of acquittal…
The plaintiff had signed an agreement with one of the defendants that contained the following provision regarding arbitration: ”The arbitration shall be administered by JAMS and conducted in accordance with its Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Procedures, except as provided otherwise…
This appeal arose from two district court orders awarding millions of dollars of attorney’s fees against the man who filed a qui tam case that lasted over 20 years and involved more than 300 natural gas industry defendants. The Tenth Circuit affirmed the…
A convicted serial bank robber asked to attend in-patient drug treatment prior to sentencing. after undergoing inpatient treatment. The defendant’s apparent success in the treatment program led the district court to sentence him to the 33 days he previously served…
