Criminal Law

Stabbing attacks are considered assault with a deadly weapon or attempted murder, and can be severely punished in the state of Utah. Recently, a man who has been connected with a stabbing in Oregon and a slashing in Utah was arrested, and he is now being held in...

In the Utah criminal justice system pleas are often held in abeyance. This is a compassionate means by which an accused person is given a second chance. If you have been given a plea in abeyance, you know that your guilty plea does not count against you as a conviction. What a huge benefit this is to you. Your attorney has emphasized to you the importance of complying with all the terms of your plea in abeyance. You also know that once all the abeyance conditions are met, you

In the Utah criminal justice system prosecutors will often agree to reduce a felony to a misdemeanor after probation. This is made possible by legislation found in UCA Sec. 76-3-402(b). Judges and attorneys refer to these as 402 reductions. 402 reductions are an excellent way of tidying up your criminal background. 402 reductions are also a clever way of shortening the waiting period for expungement. Utah judges, by law, only consider 402 reductions upon successful completion

“How do I get this darn conviction off my record!” “I am tired of losing jobs because of a stupid mistake I made when I was 18!” These are statements we commonly hear from clients who have been convicted of a crime. Fortunately there is a way to wipe your criminal record clean and get a fresh start. The process is called expungement. Under Utah law the qualifications for expungement are pretty straight forward. In most cases all you need to do to become eligible is to wait. T

So you are one of the lucky ones. Through some good lawyering, your attorney convinced the prosecutor to reduce your DUI to Impaired Driving. You have completed 60 days of your 120-day driver’s license suspension. You have heard that by doing a plea bargain down to Impaired Driving, your driver’s license suspension was reduced to 60 days. Be careful! Now that your 60 days is up, don’t think that it is okay to simply resume driving. Doing so could set off an ugly chain of even

Some Utah DUI cases are plead to the reduced charge of Impaired Driving. Impaired Driving is not referred to as a reduced charge based upon it being a lesser degree of crime; Both offenses are Class B Misdemeanors carrying the potential of up to 180 days in jail. Impaired Driving, rather, is referred to as a lesser offense because the minimum consequences are less than those for a DUI. In DUI cases a judge must order a minimum of 2 days jail for a first offense, and 10 or mor