People in the State of Utah are protected against unreasonable searches and seizures by the government under the State and Federal Constitutions. If the government wants to perform a search or seizure of your private property, a police officer is generally required to appear before a judge with a sworn affidavit detailing the facts and allegations of their investigation. Additionally, the affidavit must describe the person, place, or thing to be searched or seized, which limits the scope of what the government is able to do during the execution of the search warrant. After the judge has considered the information in the affidavit, the judge determines whether probable cause exists to issue the warrant requested.

Do the police always have to get a warrant before they can perform a search or a seizure?

There are a number of exceptions to the warrant requirement that allow the police to perform searches and seize private property without first having to go through the process of appearing in front of a judge with a sworn affidavit. These exceptions are significant, often giving a skilled police officer solid grounds for performing a search and/or seizure of property without a warrant.

Some of these exceptions include situations where illegal items like drugs are in plain view of a police officer who is otherwise going about their ordinary business, searches and inventories of persons and property incident to arrest, and situations where the police ask permission and consent is given for the search or seizure. Oftentimes, the strength of the State’s case can be impacted significantly depending upon whether an officer did or did not need to get a warrant.

If my rights were violated, will my case be dismissed?

A criminal case against a person will not automatically be dismissed when a person’s search and seizure rights have been violated. Instead, the remedy courts apply is to restrict or suppress evidence that was obtained in violation of a person’s rights. In some cases, the suppression of this evidence might mean that the government no longer has enough evidence to continue with the prosecution and decides to dismiss the case. However, that’s not always the case, and oftentimes the prosecution determines to proceed with the case despite having certain evidence suppressed from presentation at the jury trial.

Each case is different, so please give us a call today if you have questions about searches or seizures of your property and want to understand what your rights are. We are a team of highly experienced criminal defense attorneys, and we are dedicated to vigorously defending our clients. Please call or contact us today to schedule a free consultation.

What is estate planning?

Planning for the preservation and transfer of a person’s property after their death is called “estate planning.” A good estate plan includes a will, powers of attorney, a living will (Utah Advance Health Care Directive) and usually a trust.

Who needs estate planning?

Essentially, if you own anything, you should have an estate plan — will, trust, health care directive, and power of attorney.

Proper estate planning usually involves more than just writing a will. While a last will and testament can be an important part of your estate plan, a personal consultation with an attorney can be the first step in understanding how other estate planning tools can be used to help you achieve your goals and ensure that your assets are used and distributed according to your intent.

Can I use estate planning forms from the Internet?

There are many free pre-printed and downloadable forms for wills and trusts. But cookie-cutter estate planning cannot replace competent legal advice. Your life and circumstances are unique, and your estate plan should be tailored to fit your situation. A set of documents that may work well in one set of circumstances may be completely inappropriate in another. We work work with you to create a personalized estate plan designed to meet your individual and family needs and goals.

Is a will enough?

A last will and testament is the most fundamental Utah estate planning document. It can serve as the foundation of and also as a starting point for your complete estate plan.

Regardless of how complex or simple your estate planning may be, there are important functions that only a will can accomplish. But most people will benefit from the use of additional estate planning tools such as a living trust, advance health care directive, and durable power of attorney. These common components of a good estate plan each serve different functions and can together help ensure that intentions are carried out.

Is estate planning expensive?

It is sometimes said that you get what you pay for. But creating a personalized estate plan can be more affordable than you might expect.

Trying to do estate planning on the cheap by using free online forms can backfire. Incorrect or inadequate documents can increase the chances that your estate will be subject to probate. Even if the documents are legally valid, stock forms may not accomplish what you really intend to do.

With the assistance of a skilled attorney, you can implement a personalized estate plan with tools and documents tailored to your individual needs and circumstances. Often, a well-crafted estate plan can save money in the long run. Many of our clients have been pleasantly surprised by how affordable our services can be.

What if probate becomes necessary?

A common goal in the estate planning process is to avoid probate. But in some situations, probate is unavoidable even with the best-made estate plans.

Although it is sometimes necessary, probate does nothing to add to the value of your estate. It can be time-consuming and costly. But in many cases where there is no dispute among the various heirs, an attorney can help move the probate process along more quickly and in a more cost-effective manner. In some cases where the decedent’s estate is relatively small, probate can also be avoided completely through the use of what is often referred to as a “small estates affidavit.”

Finding an Estate Planning Attorney in Utah

Estate planning is a way of helping to protect what matters most to you. For many people, this means ensuring that their children or grandchildren are provided for, preserving their estate, avoiding unnecessary taxes, or leaving a legacy of charitable giving. Utah attorney We work personally with clients to develop an estate plan tailored to fit each client’s individual circumstances and needs.

With offices in Salt Lake and Davis Counties, we work to provide affordable estate planning services to clients throughout Utah. Contact us today to arrange for an initial consultation to learn how we can help you.

Family law involves more than just divorce. Utah family law attorneys often work with clients to help protect their families and loved ones

Family Law – More Than Just Divorce

Family law touches on some of the most important and deeply personal matters that you may face as an individual or as a family. Facing these issues can be easier when you have the right attorney on your side.

Family law involves more than just divorce. Utah family law attorneys often work with clients to help protect their families and loved ones. A comprehensive family law practice can include helping clients navigate the legal maze of adoption, working to obtain a guardianship for an adult child with special needs, creating a complete estate plan to ensure that assets are passed efficiently and effectively to their intended beneficiaries, helping negotiate and create pre-nuptial or post-nuptial agreements to potentially protect a clients interests in the event of a divorce, and much more.

We work closely with clients to ensure that we understand their goals, then work hard to protect their legal rights and interests.

Divorce Law in Utah

While a family law practice can involve many different aspects of family life, divorce is sometimes a reality that must be dealt with. Emotions often run high during the divorce process. Having a trusted attorney working with you can help you avoid costly and time-consuming mistakes. Protecting your children and ensuring that assets will be available to provide for them can be one of the most important (and one of the most hotly contested) issues in a divorce. Good legal counsel and strong advocacy in the courtroom are both important as you proceed through the complexities of Utah’s legal system.

Divorce is not easy. The legal processes and systems involved in a divorce are neither simple nor straightforward. Having the right attorney can be critical to successfully surviving.

Finding a Family Law Attorney in Utah

Contact us today to schedule an initial consultation with a Utah divorce lawyer. See what the right attorney can do for you.

A charge of criminal mischief in Utah most commonly involves the intentional damage to or destruction of property owned by another person. Vandalism often falls under Utah’s definition of criminal mischief.

Criminal Mischief – Utah Domestic Violence Attorneys

Scratched car paint, broken windows, and kicked-in doors are some of the more common damage involved in Utah criminal mischief cases. But accidental destruction of property damage is not sufficient to support a criminal mischief charge. The prosecuting attorney must prove that the property damage or destruction was done intentionally.

The level of a criminal mischief charge usually depends on the cost or value of the damage done to the property. This means that a Utah criminal mischief charge can range from a class B misdemeanor to a serious second-degree felony. However, even a class B misdemeanor charge is punishable by up to 180 days in jail. A second-degree felony could result in a prison term of up to 15 years.

The damage cost/value used to determine the level of charge for criminal mischief is often the cost of the actual damage done, not the defendant’s intended damage. For instance, what may have been intended as a harmless prank can result in serious felony charges.

Under some circumstances, criminal mischief may also be considered a domestic violence (DV) offense. The addition of a “DV” tag to a criminal mischief charge does not change the level of the charge or increase the maximum penalties, however, prosecuting attorneys often take DV cases more seriously than other charges.

Assault and aggravated assault charges are serious and could result in substantial jail and or prison time if convicted. To achieve the best results on your case, you need an experienced Utah criminal defense team on your side. Canyons Law Group’s criminal defense team has represented thousands of clients. They have the experience, skill, and determination to achieve real results for each of their clients. Contact us today to schedule your initial consultation and case analysis.

Elements of a Utah Assault Charge

A “simple” assault or sometimes referred to as “battery,” is a misdemeanor under Utah code. An assault charge in Utah begins as a class B misdemeanor punishable by up to 180 days in jail. If there is evidence of “substantial” bodily injury to the other person or if the other person is pregnant and the accused knows that the person is pregnant, the charge can be enhanced to a class A misdemeanor.

Utah statutes define “assault” as (a) an attempt, with unlawful force or violence, to do bodily injury to another; (b) a threat, accompanied by a show of immediate force or violence, to do bodily injury to another; or (c) an act, committed with unlawful force or violence, that causes bodily injury to another or creates a substantial risk of bodily injury to another. (Utah Code Ann. 76-5-102). Utah Statues define “Substantial bodily injury” as an injury that causes or creates protracted physical pain, temporary disfigurement, or temporary loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ. (Utah Code Ann. 76-1-601.)

An assault that involves the use or threatened use of a weapon or results in a more serious injurycan be filed as a felony aggravated assault. Penalties for a Utah aggravated assault conviction are substantially higher and can include prison time.

Self Defense in Utah Assault Cases

You may be found not guilty of an assault, even if you committed the alleged acts. Under Utah criminal law, the use of force can be justified under some circumstances if done in self-defense, in defense of your home, or protection of your property.

The application of Utah’s self-defense laws is not always straightforward. The self-defense statute allows for the use of “reasonable” force in defending yourself against the use or threatened use of force by another. Suppose you believe that one of these defenses may apply to your case. In that case, you should contact an experienced criminal attorney as soon as possible to determine how self-defense may play a role in your criminal case.

Finding an Experienced Criminal Attorney in Utah

If you are facing charges of assault or other criminal charges in Utah, it is critical to have an experienced criminal defense attorney on your side. Call us to see what the Canyons Law Group’s criminal defense team can do for you.

What is an expungement?

An arrest or a criminal conviction can stay on a person’s record forever. An expungement can change that. An expungement is the official sealing of all court records, arrest records, and associated investigation and detention records. The current Utah Code, §77-40-108(2), allows a person who has received an expungement to “respond to any inquiry as though the arrest or conviction did not occur.” Additionally, expungement can restore firearm rights, open employment opportunities, and free a person from the legal restrictions accompanying a criminal conviction.

Who is eligible for expungement?

Utah law imposes limitations both on the types of charges may be expunged and also the number of convictions. Time requirements vary based on the level of the conviction.

To qualify, a person may not have any active criminal cases open to be eligible for expungement of any charges. First-degree felonies, violent felonies, felony DUIs, automobile homicide, registrable sex offenses, and registrable child abuse offenses are not eligible for expungement.

Eligibility can also be denied if your criminal record is too long. If you have convictions arising from separate criminal episodes for two or more felonies, three or more misdemeanors (if two are classified as Class A misdemeanors), four or more misdemeanors (if three of them are Class B misdemeanors), or five or more convictions of any degree other than an infraction, you will not be eligible for expungement.

If you are not eligible for expungement, a 402 reduction may restore eligibility.

The waiting time to be eligible for a certificate of eligibility begins to run from the latest of either the date of conviction, release from incarceration, or termination from probation or parole. The waiting time for a felony charge is seven years, five years for a Class A misdemeanor, four years for a Class B misdemeanor, and three years for any other misdemeanor or infraction. If your case has been dismissed or if there are any records not involving a conviction you would like to expunge, you may be eligible for expungement 30 days after the dismissal or arrest.

How to get a conviction expunged?

The first step in filing for a traditional expungement in Utah is to obtain a certificate of eligibility from the Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification, or BCI. BCI cannot issue expungements, but they are responsible for determining if someone is eligible for expungement under Utah law. After reviewing your convictions, BCI will send you a letter listing the eligible convictions. You must return the letter to BCI with the required fee before BCI will issue the actual certificate of eligibility.

The next step is preparing and filing the petition for expungement. The petition is a formal request that the court order the expungement of your criminal records. The petition must be accompanied by the certificate of eligibility from BCI. In addition, the petition must contain enough information to show, by “clear and convincing evidence,” that granting the expungement is not contrary to the public interest.

If the prosecutor or victim objects, the court is required to hold a hearing to determine whether or not the expungement should be granted.

If the courts find that an expungement is not against the public’s interest, the judge will grant the petition for expungement and issue orders to expunge. However, unless the government agencies with records of criminal information are presented with the court order, they will still make information about the case available to the public. After the order has been delivered, the records are sealed and made unavailable to the public. While there are some statutory exceptions in Utah Code §77-40-108 and §77-40-109, they “may not divulge information of records which have been expunged” absent a court order.

Utah’s Clean Slate Law

In February of 2022, the Utah Clean Slate Law went into effect. This law directs the Utah courts to seal certain records without a petition from the person charged. Expungements done under the Utah Clean Slate Law are often called automatic expungements because they do not require a petition to be filed or the petitioner to show that the expungement is “not contrary to the interests of the public.” However, the kinds of records that can be sealed under the Utah Clean Slate Law are more restrictive than charges eligible to be expunged with a petition and the time requirements are different.

In addition to the limitations imposed upon which cases are eligible for a certificate of eligibility, offenses against the person, weapons offenses, domestic violence, DUI, sexual battery, lewdness, and damage to or interruption to communication devices convictions are not eligible for expungement under the Utah Clean Slate Law. Furthermore, Class A misdemeanors other than possession of a controlled substance and felonies are not eligible for automatic expungement.

Class A convictions for possession of a controlled substance become eligible for automatic expungement after seven years, after six years for a Class B misdemeanor, and five years for a Class C misdemeanor. Convictions can be expunged earlier by filing a petition for expungement.

Contact Us

There are substantial benefits to having your criminal record expunged. An experienced attorney can be crucial to the process. Canyons Law Group has assisted clients with expungement cases ranging from felony charges to misdemeanor convictions requiring 402 reductions in order to restore expungement eligibility. If you are considering pursuing an expungement, contact us today to arrange for an initial consultation.

A charge for unlawful detention in Utah involves allegations that an individual has been held against their will, without the authority of law, for a brief time. Most often, the key difference between a charge

Penalties

Under Utah Law, unlawful detention is a class B misdemeanor; however, if the victim is injured or the defendant threatens, uses, or just possesses a weapon, the charge can become an aggravated felony charge. Canyons Law Group is a Utah criminal defense team that has extensive experience defending felony and misdemeanor cases, including; unlawful detention, kidnapping, aggravated kidnapping, and child kidnapping. Contact us today for your initial consultation.

Elements

Utah Code 76-5-304 details the elements of a criminal charge for unlawful detention. This charge requires proof that an individual “knowingly and intentionally” detained or restrained a person, not constituting a violation of one of Utah’s kidnapping statutes. A difference between charges of unlawful detention and kidnapping is based on how long the person was detained. A kidnapping charge requires proof that the detention persisted for a “substantial” time. (Please note that an aggravated kidnapping charge can be filed even in cases where the detention was brief but injuries were inflicted, weapons were used, or other factors are met.)

Minors

Unlawful detention of a minor requires proof of different specific elements. This charge does not require proof that the minor was physically restrained or detained. Instead, unlawful detention of a minor can be charged if the person “coerces or exerts influence over the victim with the intent to cause the victim to remain with the actor for an unreasonable time under the circumstances.” Also, a person charged with unlawful detention of a minor must be at least four years older than the victim.