180 results for 'court:"Utah Court Of Appeals"'.
J. Oliver finds that the trial court properly sanctioned a husband for failing to timely disclose his trial exhibits by excluding some of them, and it rightly found he failed to show that his wife had dissipated the marital estate. The division of marital property was correct except the trial court must revisit the husband's claim that money he withdrew from a joint account was for marital purposes to make findings about how it was spent. Vacated in part.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Oliver, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 20210713-CA, Categories: Family Law, Sanctions, Discovery
J. Christiansen Forster finds that the trial court must hold further proceedings to determine if defendant, who pleaded guilty but mentally ill to four felonies, must pay restitution. A motion for restitution filed two weeks after sentencing was well within the seven-year statutory deadline. The state's victim advocacy office that filed the motion was not bound by the prosecution's plea agreement since they are separate entities. A restitution order would not violate defendant's double jeopardy rights. Vacated.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Christiansen Forster, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 20220466-CA, Categories: Restitution, Plea
J. Mortensen finds that a judge who was previously a defense attorney and had represented defendant should have recused himself before presiding over his probation revocation hearing. Though the judge created an appearance of partiality by failing to disqualify himself, defendant did not show any prejudice and his probation was revoked for multiple violations, an avoidance of probation obligations and an extensive criminal history. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Mortensen, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 20220280-CA, Categories: Judiciary, Probation, Due Process
J. Oliver finds that the trial court rightly refused to set aside a $529,000 default judgment in a contract case. Defendant's employee's decision to treat an email from its registered agent as spam was not inadvertence or excusable neglect and defendant failed to show it had exercised due diligence. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Oliver, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 20220666-CA, Categories: Contract
J. Luthy holds that the trial court prematurely dismissed a contract action alleging failure to fund a project to remove industrial byproducts from a defunct steel mill site. A determination of the contract's predominant purpose that includes an examination of the circumstances around the contract's negotiation, formation and performance must be made before a motion to dismiss may be granted. Reversed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Luthy, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 20210732-CA, Categories: Contract
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J. Mortensen finds that the trial court properly dismissed a debtor's deceptive trade practices suit against a Wisconsin debt collection firm. A foreign debt collector's failure to register as required by the Collection Agency Act does not support a cause of action under the Consumer Sales Practices Act. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Mortensen, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: 20210720-CA, Categories: Debt Collection, Consumer Law
J. Harris finds that the trial court properly dismissed defendant's petition for post-conviction relief that alleged ineffective assistance led to his conviction for aggravated sexual abuse of a child. Some of his post-conviction claims are barred because he previously raised them in a direct appeal, and the others are barred because he could have raised them on direct appeal. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 20220225-CA, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Sex Offender
J. Orme finds that the Labor Commission properly upheld an administrative court award of past and future medical expenses and total disability compensation based on a medical panel's finding that a worker's respiratory and other medical problems were caused by workplace exposures. The administrative court was within its discretion to appoint a second medical panel after the first panel left the issue of causation unanswered. Also, a scientific consensus about whether isocyanates cause chronic eosinophilic pneumonia was not required as the second medical panel was able to support its conclusion with substantial facts and expertise. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Orme, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 20220037-CA, Categories: Workers' Compensation
J. Luthy holds that the trial court exceeded its authority in ruling that replacing a broken down swing gate with an electric gate would unreasonably burden an access easement's servient estate. The trial court should presume that technological advances are favored, and whatever burden a new gate may impose on the servient estate must be balanced with the interests of the dominant estate. And the trial court may not give weight to purely speculative burdens of the proposed gate. Reversed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Luthy, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 20210584-CA, Categories: Property
J. Camara holds that the trial court erred in arresting judgment after entering a first-degree aggravated kidnapping conviction, which relied on a finding of risk of bodily injury. The jury had relied on sufficient evidence that the victim faced a risk of bodily injury to support the conviction. Defendant dragged her across several lanes of a busy street at night as she struggled to escape, even if he waited for cars to pass. Reversed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Oliver, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 20210668-CA, Categories: Kidnapping
J. Harris holds that the trial court should have granted a lender's motion for renewal of judgment. The lender unsuccessfully attempted to collect on the original judgment during its eight-year term and obtained a renewed judgment before it expired. Still unable to satisfy the judgment after another eight years, it sought a second renewal but the trial court refused on statute of limitations grounds. The debtor did not file an appellate brief, so without making a merits-based decision, the trial court must grant the second renewal because the lender has made a prima facie showing that it has a plausible basis for renewal. Reversed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 20220584-CA, Categories: Enforcement Of Judgments, Banking / Lending
J. Tenney finds that the trial court had discretion to deny homeowners the attorney fees they sought after the trial court dissolved a temporary restraining order on their construction project due to inaction by a homeowners' association. A reasonable person could find that the injunction halting their project for nonconformance with CC&Rs was not wrongful. However, the trial court must consider whether they are due attorney fees under a prevailing party provision in the CC&Rs. Reversed in part.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Tenney, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 20220356-CA, Categories: Property, Damages, Attorney Fees
J. Tenney finds that the trial court improperly denied an escrow agent's motion to compel arbitration of fraud, conspiracy and contract claims made by real estate buyers. The escrow agent is a third-party beneficiary because it was expressly named in the purchase contracts and because the buyers' claims against it are tied to the underlying transactions, so it can enforce the contracts' arbitration provisions. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Tenney, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: 20220047-CA, Categories: Arbitration, Fraud, Real Estate
J. Oliver finds that the trial court properly held that the individual tenant who signed a commercial lease on behalf of a non-existent company is responsible for unpaid rent. And the individual tenant's personal petition for bankruptcy was a material default under the plain terms of the lease. The landlord is awarded attorney fees on appeal. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Oliver, Filed On: September 14, 2023, Case #: 20210655-CA, Categories: Property, Attorney Fees, Contract
J. Christiansen Forster finds that an appeals board supported its conclusion that an employee suffered retaliation with evidence of adverse actions. Her supervisor intensified his public reprimands of her after she complained that he had made unwelcome comments about her appearance. However, the board erred in ordering her reinstatement as she voluntarily retired early. On remand the board must determine the attorney fees she paid to file her Antidiscrimination Act claim. Reversed in part.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Christiansen Forster, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 20200391-CA, Categories: Attorney Fees, Employment Retaliation
J. Christiansen Forster finds that the trial court properly denied defendant bail. Substantial evidence supported his felony drug charge for fentanyl distribution, he is likely to continue selling fentanyl, which poses a danger to the community due to its deadliness, and he is a flight risk. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Christiansen Forster, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 20230303-CA, Categories: Drug Offender, Bail
J. Harris finds that the trial court erred in terminating a father's parental rights. Though the father was incarcerated, the trial court's conclusion that his children needed stability and that they needed protection against his commitment for more visitation do not support a judgment that termination is in the children's best interest. The awkwardness of prison visitation is unavoidable and no evidence showed he had a harmful relationship with the children. Reversed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: August 31, 2023, Case #: 20220956-CA, Categories: Family Law
J. Christiansen Forster finds that the trial court properly dismissed a traffic collision action because the injured party's expert witness did not disclose the intake form he relied on to conclude that the injuries stemmed entirely from that one collision. He also failed to disclose the literature he relied on to conclude that lifelong treatment would be required. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Christiansen Forster, Filed On: August 24, 2023, Case #: 20210894-CA, Categories: Civil Procedure, Negligence, Experts
J. Tenney finds that the court hearing defendant's petition for postconviction relief properly denied his requests for appointment of counsel. The appointment of counsel in postconviction cases is discretionary and neither the complexity of ineffective assistance claims nor the hurdles of postconviction procedures require appointment. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Tenney, Filed On: August 24, 2023, Case #: 20210145-CA, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Sex Offender
J. Mortensen holds that the workers' compensation appeals board properly upheld an administrative court's decision to wean a claimant down to a lower lever of opioid use for a workplace back injury. The board supported its decisions about dosage and compensability with substantial evidence. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Mortensen, Filed On: August 24, 2023, Case #: 20200184-CA, Categories: Workers' Compensation
J. Tenney finds that the district court properly upheld a county council rejection of a property owner's request to build an accessory building on his ridgeline lot. The proposed structure would require site grading in addition to the completed grading that already exceeded the general plan's limit for development in the area. Also, the county council's denial was within its discretion and its decision was adequate for appellate review. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Tenney, Filed On: August 24, 2023, Case #: 20220338-CA, Categories: Property, Zoning
J. Tenney holds that the Labor Commission properly upheld an administrative court order for an employer to pay for an injection as part of an injured employee's ongoing treatment for a workplace knee injury that happened years earlier. The employer failed to marshal record evidence that would challenge the Commission's findings that the employee's knee pain was related to the workplace injury.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Tenney, Filed On: August 17, 2023, Case #: 20220191-CA, Categories: Workers' Compensation
J. Oliver finds that the district court improperly dismissed a borrower's claim that a lender's attempt to foreclose on his property was barred by the statute of limitations. The suit named as the defendant an entity that was an internal asset designation used by Bank of America, but the motion for summary judgment was filed by Bank of America, which was not a named defendant and was never a party to the case. Reversed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Oliver, Filed On: August 17, 2023, Case #: 20210409-CA, Categories: Civil Procedure, Real Estate, Banking / Lending
J. Harris finds that the trial court was within its discretion to consider a massage therapy license applicant's previous unprofessional and unlawful activities in upholding a decision by the Division of Occupational and Professional Licensing to issue a probationary license instead of an unrestricted license. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Harris, Filed On: August 10, 2023, Case #: 20210940-CA, Categories: Licensing
J. Mortensen holds that the trial court properly found that a wife did not have an interest in her husband's trust and that her argument that she was entitled to trust assets as a creditor was not supported by Arizona law, which controlled trust interpretation. However, the trial court must revisit her personal grooming, lawn aeration and bark replacement expenses since it denied them without adequate findings. Reversed in part.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Mortensen, Filed On: August 10, 2023, Case #: 20210080-CA, Categories: Family Law, Trusts
J. Orme finds that counsel in defendant's sexual assault trial was not deficient for deciding not to seek a directed verdict in the basis on inherent improbability simply because of inconsistency in victim's statements about what she wore during the assault. Testimony a nurse made about the victim's statements during a post-assault examination were properly admitted since they were related to a medical diagnosis or treatment. Affirmed.
Court: Utah Court Of Appeals, Judge: Orme, Filed On: August 3, 2023, Case #: 20220059-CA, Categories: Confrontation, Ineffective Assistance, Sex Offender