Utah Supreme Court Decisions 2024

Justia Opinion Summary: Randi Mariani crashed her motor scooter and sustained a serious injury during a driving skills test, which she was taking to obtain a motorcycle endorsement to her driver license. Following the crash, the Utah Department…

Justia Opinion Summary: Erik Schnibbe, an attorney, worked at the law firm of Magleby, Cataxinos, and Greenwood. After a client of the firm won a large damages award, the firm paid Schnibbe $1 million for his share of the contingency fee via…

Justia Opinion Summary: A customer, Davie Montes, purchased a used car from National Buick GMC (National) and signed two agreements: a Purchase Agreement and an Arbitration Agreement. The Purchase Agreement included an integration clause…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2015, Michael Jerry Felts pled guilty to assaulting a police officer and failing to stop at the command of police. The State sought restitution for damage to a police vehicle during the pursuit. The district court…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves a dispute over a proposed constitutional amendment in Utah, referred to as Amendment D. The amendment, proposed by the Utah State Legislature, seeks to change the state constitution in three significant…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2020, Utah law temporarily allowed municipalities to annex unincorporated areas without a petition or county consent. During this period, the Town of Hideout annexed land in Summit County. After receiving a…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2021, Derek Willden was charged with multiple counts of physical and sexual assault. During trial preparations, the State requested that Willden disclose certain information under Utah Rule of Criminal Procedure…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, Tiffany Bingham challenged the constitutionality of the Utah Health Care Malpractice Act’s four-year statute of repose after her medical malpractice claim against Dr. George C. Gourley and Dr. McKay L.…

Justia Opinion Summary: A plaintiff filed a lawsuit against a defendant, alleging that the defendant's negligence caused a car accident resulting in significant injuries. The plaintiff claimed that the defendant ran a red light and collided…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2018, Brevan Bringhurst Baugh was charged with two counts of aggravated sexual abuse of a child. The prosecution presented evidence of three instances of alleged abuse, distinguished by location, while the charges…

Justia Opinion Summary: Phil Lyman sought extraordinary relief from the Utah Supreme Court regarding the 2024 primary election for the Utah Republican Party. He requested the court annul the primary election results and certify him as the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Colby Jenkins contested the results of the 2024 primary election for the Utah Republican Party candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in Utah’s Second Congressional District. After a recount, election officials…

Justia Opinion Summary: A nonprofit entity, Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory (Sports Medicine), sought a property tax exemption for its South Jordan facility, claiming it was used exclusively for charitable purposes. Sports…

Justia Opinion Summary: Ninety-four former patients of Dr. David Broadbent, an obstetrician and gynecologist, sued him, alleging that he sexually assaulted them under the guise of providing medical treatment. The claims against Broadbent…

Justia Opinion Summary: Justin Nelson filed a lawsuit against his former mother-in-law, Traci Phillips, former sister-in-law, Ashley Phillips, and other friends and family of his deceased wife, Tiffani Nelson. Justin alleged that Traci, Ashley,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Three customers, D.W., L.T., and J.G., filed a lawsuit against FPA Sandy Mall Associates (SMA) and Hong Guang Lin, an unlicensed massage therapist, after Lin allegedly sexually assaulted them during their massage…

Justia Opinion Summary: **Summary:** The case involves the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah (PPAU) challenging Senate Bill 174 (SB 174), a law enacted by the Utah Legislature that prohibits abortion at any stage of pregnancy except in…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2008, Michael W. Thompson was convicted by a jury of two counts of forcible sodomy. Thompson appealed, arguing that his counsel was constitutionally ineffective. The Utah Court of Appeals agreed, reversed his…

Justia Opinion Summary: Douglas Lovell was convicted in 2015 for the murder of Joyce Yost, a crime he committed in 1985. Lovell had previously pled guilty to the murder in 1993 and was sentenced to death, but his plea was later withdrawn,…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2018, a juvenile court removed seven children from their biological parents' custody due to abuse and neglect. The children were returned in early 2019 but removed again a few months later after continued issues. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves a 2009 loan transaction between TNE Limited Partnership (TNE) and the Muir Second Family Limited Partnership (the Muir Partnership) at a time when the Muir Partnership was dissolved. The plaintiffs,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Brett Del Valle was sued by Alum Rock Riverside, LLC in California for breach of contract, resulting in a judgment against him for over $4 million. Alum Rock domesticated this judgment in Utah and recorded it with the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Linzi Labrum, the petitioner, sought a waiver of rules 14-704(c)(2) and 14-704(c)(3) of the Utah Supreme Court Rules of Professional Practice. These rules require graduates of non-ABA-accredited law schools to practice…

Justia Opinion Summary: Lippa and Manmohan Grewal sold a gas station to Theodore Hansen, who later sold it to Junction Market Fairview, L.C. (JMF). The sale contract required Hansen to make regular installment payments, with the final balance…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves a dispute over the Utah Legislature's repeal and replacement of a citizen initiative known as "Proposition 4," which aimed to reform the state's redistricting process to prevent partisan gerrymandering.…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case revolves around Brent Gordon's claim that Herriman City's policy violates his right to inspect records under the Utah Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA). Gordon did not appeal Herriman’s denial…

Justia Opinion Summary: A group of Utah voters, led by Ian Daniel Phillips, sought to initiate state legislation that would impose an age limit on Utah candidates for federal office. The Lieutenant Governor of Utah rejected the group's…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2020, the Town of Hideout, Utah, took advantage of a brief window in state law that allowed municipalities to annex unincorporated areas without a petition or county consent. Hideout annexed an area in Summit County,…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2018, a group of citizens in Tooele County, Utah, initiated the process to incorporate an area known as the City of Erda. The incorporation process involved several steps, including obtaining signatures from property…

Justia Opinion Summary: In Utah, a group of local citizens sponsored the incorporation of an area in Tooele County to be known as the City of Erda. After the Lieutenant Governor certified Erda’s incorporation, three landowners within Erda’s…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves the trustees of the Stanley and Sandra Goldberg Trusts, C. Leon Nelson and Marilynn Tetrick, who hired legal counsel to assist them in their duties. The same attorneys later defended them in a lawsuit…

Justia Opinion Summary: Weston Bennion was injured when his apartment deck collapsed and subsequently sued his landlord, Dale Stolrow, for negligence. The parties settled, with Bennion agreeing to release Stolrow and his insurer from all claims…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves Shane Craig Smith, who was arrested in a police sting operation after he attempted to engage in sexual activities with a persona named "Emily," who he believed to be a 13-year-old girl. Smith had met…

Justia Opinion Summary: Nicholas and Julie Kuhar filed a product liability claim against Thompson Manufacturing, a Utah company, seeking compensation for injuries Nicholas sustained when his safety harness failed while he was cleaning rain…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves Salt Lake County's challenge to the constitutionality of the Aircraft Valuation Law, which provides a preferred method for determining the fair market value of aircraft for tax purposes. The County…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves the interpretation of Utah's Pretrial Justification Statute and its application to a situation where a defendant, Jon Michael Clara, claimed self-defense after firing his gun at a snowplow that had…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved a group of businesses (referred to collectively as Taxpayers) who filed applications for adjustments to the fair market value of their properties for tax year 2020 in the state of Utah. They claimed…

Justia Opinion Summary: A dispute arose between SunStone Realty Partners X LLC (SunStone) and Bodell Construction Company (Bodell) over the postjudgment interest rate applied to a domesticated Hawaii judgment in Utah. Following arbitration in…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal of a criminal case, the Supreme Court of the State of Utah concluded that the police officers' warrantless entry and search of Alexander Hung Tran’s home were reasonable and justified under the emergency…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Supreme Court of the State of Utah considered the appeal of Marianne Tyson who sought to access her sealed adoption records from 1978, in order to learn more about her birth parents' medical histories…

Justia Opinion Summary: In the medical malpractice case concerning the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment from Lillian Birt, her daughter Jenafer Meeks sued the treating doctors, Wei Peng and Christina G. Richards, both individually and on…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, a doctor, Dr. Gabriel Fine, sued the University of Utah School of Medicine, alleging that the University deprived him of his clinical privileges without following the procedures required by its bylaws. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: In the case at hand, Robert Evan Woodham was convicted for failing to yield to stationary emergency vehicles in violation of Utah Code subsection 41-6a-904(2). The conviction was upheld by the district court, after which…

Justia Opinion Summary: In a case before the Supreme Court of the State of Utah, the petitioner, Elbert John Paule, was charged with murder, obstruction of justice, reckless endangerment, and assault following a fatal shooting incident…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, Cathy McKitrick, an investigative journalist, sought access to certain records under the Government Records Access and Management Act (GRAMA). The Ogden City Records Review Board ordered the city to release…