State v. Machan
Annotate this CaseDefendant was arrested and removed from a home he owned with his wife. Soon afterwards, Defendant's wife obtained a restraining order that prohibited Defendant from going to the family home for 150 days. About three weeks after the restraining order expired, Defendant entered the home and brandished a rifle. Defendant was subsequently charged with aggravated burglary, aggravated assault, and commission of domestic violence in the presence of a child. A magistrate found Defendant could not be bound over on the aggravated burglary charge because there was insufficient evidence that Defendant had relinquished his possessory interest in the family home to render his entry unlawful under Utah's burglary statute. The Supreme Court affirmed, holding (1) an estranged spouse may implicitly relinquish his or her possessory rights to the marital home by voluntarily establishing a separate residence; but (2) in this case, the State did not produce sufficient evidence of voluntary relinquishment. Remanded.
Some case metadata and case summaries were written with the help of AI, which can produce inaccuracies. You should read the full case before relying on it for legal research purposes.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.