Justia Utah Supreme Court Opinion Summaries

Articles Posted in Utah Supreme Court
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A group called Move to Amend Salt Lake submitted a petition for certification of an initiative petition for placement on the local election ballot. Salt Lake City informed Move to Amend that their petition would not be placed on the ballot because it did not qualify as a proper initiative. Plaintiff, a registered voter in the City, filed a petition for extraordinary relief, asking the Supreme Court to compel the City Recorder to place the initiative on the City's November 2012 ballot, and to declare that the power of popular initiative encompasses initiatives that are purely advisory. The Supreme Court denied the petition for extraordinary relief, holding that the power of popular initiative in Utah does not encompass initiatives that are purely advisory. View "Proulx v. Salt Lake City Recorder" on Justia Law

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On November 12, 2009, City dismissed Petitioner from his position as a city police officer. Petitioner appealed his termination to the City appeal board, which, after a hearing, affirmed the City's termination decision in a ruling dated June 7, 2010. On June 10, 2010, the City's recorder certified the order as final and mailed a copy to Petitioner. Petitioner filed a petition for review on July 9, 2010. The court of appeals dismissed for lack of jurisdiction, concluding the petition was untimely because it had been filed more than thirty days after the date (June 7, 2010) appearing on the appeal board's decision and order. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that Petitioner's petition was timely under a clarified statutory standard, as the order was not issued until June 10, 2010. Remanded. View "Perez v. South Jordan City" on Justia Law

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Alpine Vision entered into loan agreements with Prinsburg State Bank's predecessor in interest. Several individuals (Guarantors) executed personal guarantees for the loans. Knighton Optical subsequently purchased Alpine Vision and defaulted on the loans. Prinsburg sued the Guarantors to recover the balance. Prinsburg then sold the collateral but did not apply the sale's proceeds to the outstanding balance of the loans. The Guarantors objected to the sale. After the district court denied all but one of Prinsburg's claims on summary judgment, the parties stipulated to a list of statements consistent with the district court's findings and conclusions, and additionally to a statement that resolved the remaining claim in favor of the Guarantors. The district court accepted the parties' stipulations and summarily denied all of Prinsburg's claims. The court of appeals declined to consider Prinsburg's arguments on appeal, concluding that the parties' stipulations unambiguously resolved the case and precluded appellate review. The Supreme Court affirmed but on different grounds, holding that, because Prinsburg stipulated to the district court's resolution of this case, it was estopped from challenging that resolution on appeal. View "Prinsburg v. Abundo" on Justia Law

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Defendant as convicted of aggravated murder and attempted aggravated murder. Defendant's conviction was affirmed on appeal, after which he filed a pro se petition seeking relief under the Post-Conviction Remedies act (PCRA) on the grounds that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to raise a defense and that his appellate counsel was ineffective for failing to raise a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel on direct appeal. The court granted summary judgment for the State, concluding that Defendant's appellate counsel was not ineffective and that Defendant's ineffective assistance of trial counsel claim was procedurally barred. The Supreme Court reversed, holding (1) disputed issues of material fact precluded summary judgment on Defendant's claim that his appellate counsel was ineffective; and (2) because the Court could not determine whether appellate counsel was ineffective, it could not determine whether Defendant's claim regarding trial counsel was procedurally barred by the PRCA. Remanded for an evidentiary hearing. View "Ross v. State" on Justia Law

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Utahns for Ethical Government (UEG), a Utah political action committee, advanced a petition for an initiative to be included in the 2010 statewide general election. Ultimately, UEG's efforts to qualify for the 2010 ballot were unsuccessful. Yet UEG continued collecting additional signatures thereafter, using the same petition targeting 2010. The lieutenant governor subsequently determined that UEG's initiative did not qualify for the 2012 ballot, reasoning that the initiative petition it advanced applied only to the 2010 ballot. UEG then filed suit, seeking a court order compelling placement of its proposed initiative on the 2012 ballot. After UEG's efforts at the district court proved unsuccessful, UEG appealed and petitioned the Supreme Court for extraordinary relief. The Supreme Court denied UEG the relief it sought, holding that UEG was not entitled to have its initiative included on the 2012 ballot because it did not meet its burden of demonstrating that its initiative qualified for the 2012 ballot. View "Utahns for Ethical Gov't v. Bell" on Justia Law

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In 2003, the City of Salt Lake asked voters to approve Proposition No. 5, which proposed the issuance of bonds to finance construction of a regional sports, recreation, and education complex. Voters approved the bonds. In 2011, the City authorized issuance of the bonds with Resolution No. 5 and then filed a petition to validate the Proposition No. 5 bonds in district court. Appellants, the Jordan River Restoration Network and several citizens, appeared pro se to oppose the City's petition, challenging the bonds' validity on several statutory and constitutional grounds. The district court denied Appellants' claim and granted the City's validation petition. The Supreme Court affirmed the City's validation petition, holding (1) the district court conducted the validation proceedings in compliance with due process and the Validation Act; and (2) the district court correctly applied the Local Government Bonding Act. View "Salt Lake City Corp. v. Jordan River Restoration Network" on Justia Law

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In this dispute two companies claimed superior interests in a subdivision property. VCS, Inc. performed work on the subdivision as a general contractor and claimed a valid mechanic's lien on the property. Utah Community Bank (UCB) claimed it acquired an interest in the same property by extending a construction loan, secured by a deed of trust, to the subdivision's owner. VCS sued UCB to vindicate its allegedly superior interest in the property. UCB, in response, asserted that VCS's mechanic's lien was not valid as against UCB's interest because VCS failed to record a timely lis pendens. The district court granted summary judgment for UCB. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) VCS's failure to record a timely lis pendens rendered its mechanic's lien void and unenforceable as against UCB; (2) VCS was not entitled to equitable relief under the doctrine of unjust enrichment because it failed to appropriate exhaust its legal remedies; (3) accordingly, the district court did not err in awarding attorney fees to UCB; and (4) likewise, UCB was entitled to its reasonable attorney fees incurred on appeal. View "VCS, Inc. v. La Salle Dev., LLC" on Justia Law

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After Mother was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, she prepared a testamentary appointment of guardianship and conservatorship of Child in favor of Grandparents. After Mother's death and upon a petition by Grandparents, the district court confirmed Grandparents' appointment of guardianship. Child's alleged father (Father) subsequently filed a motion to vacate the guardianship appointment, arguing that he had not received notice of Grandparents' guardianship petition as required under the Court Appointment Statute. The district court denied Father's motion. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) Father had standing to bring this appeal even though he did not formally intervene in this case, but (2) none of the issues raised in Father's appeals were preserved for appeal or warranted reversal under plain error review. View "In re A.T.I.G." on Justia Law

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After a jury trial, Petitioner was convicted of four counts of sodomy on a child and one count of sexual abuse of a child. The convictions were affirmed on direct appeal. Approximately a dozen years later, Petitioner filed a petition for post-conviction relief. The district court dismissed the petition as procedurally barred under the Post-Conviction Remedies Act's one-year statute of limitations. Petitioner appealed, arguing that applying the one-year statute of limitations to his petition violated the Utah Constitution under the "egregious injustice" exception set forth in Gardner v. State. The Supreme Court (1) affirmed the district court's dismissal of all but one of the claims alleged in Petitioner's petition; but (2) vacated the district court's dismissal of Petitioner's claim for ineffective assistance of counsel during the plea bargaining process, as Defendant may have a newly-recognized claim under the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision, Lafler v. Cooper, which could extend the statute of limitations on his claim. Remanded. View "Winward v. State" on Justia Law

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This appeal arose from a disgorgement order issued by the district court requiring Attorney to disgorge $30,000 in legal fees he received for his representation of the Utah Down Syndrome Association and its founders and the Utah Down Syndrome Foundation. The order stemmed from a dispute between the founders of the Association and the Foundation. In the second of two lawsuits, the Foundation sued the Association and its founders. After discovering that some of the funds taken from the Foundation's disputed accounts were used to pay Attorney for his representation of the Association and its founders, the Foundation filed successive motions for disgorgement. The motion was granted. Attorney filed a motion to vacate the disgorgement order, which the district court dismissed. The Supreme Court dismissed Attorney's appeal for lack of appellate jurisdiction because, as a nonparty to this lawsuit, Attorney was not entitled to an appeal as of right. View "Utah Down Syndrome Found., Inc. v. Utah Down Syndrome Ass'n" on Justia Law