Feb 28, 2020
In this eminent domain case, the supreme court clarified the standard for severance damages in cases involving partially condemned property by grounding the operative test in the terms of the statute as originally understood. In doing so, the court discussed…
Feb 28, 2020
When a subcontractor failed to make contributions to various trust funds for its employees’ work on a state construction project and then declared bankruptcy, the trusts sued to recover the unpaid contributions from a public payment bond associated with the…
Feb 27, 2020
In affirming the defendant’s convictions for being a felon in possession of a firearm, the Tenth Circuit upheld the district court’s admission of a 13-minute 911 call under the present sense impression exception to the rule against hearsay. The court…
Feb 21, 2020
After the defendant asserted that the victim mistakenly accused him of public lewdness at trial, the prosecution introduced evidence of four strikingly similar prior instances of lewdness perpetrated by the defendant under the doctrine of chances. That doctrine permits the…
Feb 21, 2020
In affirming the denial of a petition to modify a divorce decree, the court of appeals held that the district court lacked continuing jurisdiction to modify or expand a stipulated non-child-related nondisparagement clause contained in a final decree of divorce.
Feb 21, 2020
In this criminal appeal, the Tenth Circuit held that the district court’s denial of the criminal defendant’s challenge to filing the supplement to his plea agreement under seal was plain error. The court detailed the burden that a party seeking…
Feb 19, 2020
The supreme court reversed the dismissal of the petitioner’s petition under the Post-Conviction Remedies Act, holding his prior petition that he had voluntarily dismissed did not constitute a “previous request for post-conviction relief.” The court applied the “settled view of…
Feb 18, 2020
In this consolidated interlocutory appeal of three district court orders denying motions to dismiss medical malpractice lawsuits, the court held: 1) that the fraudulent concealment and foreign object tolling exceptions in Utah Code § 78B-3-404 can extend either the limitations or repose…
Feb 13, 2020
The trial court made the payor spouse responsible for student and vehicle loans, but then disallowed the loan obligations when considering the payor spouse’s ability to pay alimony. Reversing and remanding for further consideration, the court of appeals held that…
Feb 11, 2020
Abrogating State v. Ramirez, 817 P.2d 774 (Utah 1991), the supreme court held that the admissibility of eyewitness identification testimony should be analyzed first under the rules of evidence, but noted that the state and federal due process clauses may…
