Rippey v. State and a New Day for Challenging (Bad) Guilty Pleas in Utah
If you or a loved one has entered a plea of guilty (or no contest) to a criminal charge in Utah, the new case of Rippey v. State probably affects you, so you should know about it. Rippey is a big deal. And, IMO, it’s a good thing for criminal defendants, but also for fairness and constitutional rights in Utah.
DUI Without the “D”
Ok, you might think that if there’s one thing abundantly clear about the charge of Driving Under the Influence, it’s that, to be guilty, you must be 1) Driving, 2) Under, 3) the Influence. But you would be mistaken.
The Metaphysics of Utah’s Drug Paraphernalia Act
The Buddhists sometimes say that "the universe exists in a grain of sand" when explaining the concept of interdependence among all things. It seems the Utah legislature was strikingly Buddhist when drafting the Utah Drug Paraphernalia Act, because the way they defined "paraphernalia" makes paraphernalia exist in all things, too.
Under Utah Statute 58-37a-3, drug paraphernalia means "any equipment, product, or material used, or intended for use, to plant, propagate, cultivate, grow, harvest, manufacture, compound, convert, produce, process, prepare, test, analyze, package, repackage, store, contain, conceal, inject, ingest, inhale, or to otherwise introduce a controlled substance into the human body." Damn.
Utah's "Drug Free" Zones
Utah lawmakers have a proud tradition of writing their drug laws with an 8-inch paint-brush. Utah's Paraphernalia Act, for instance, is so broad that it would probably be easier to define what isn't illegal. (read more about it here). Similarly, Utah's "Drug Free" Zones cover so much territory that they would be better off trying to identify the small areas in the state that aren't "drug free."
So what is a drug-free zone in Utah? Well, according to Utah Code 58-37-8:
Utah Eases Expungement Eligibility, Especially for Prior Drug Convictions!
Over the last couple years, Utah has made some major changes in it's expungement eligibility guidelines--almost all of them for the good. The most important change has made it easier for people with several drug possession offenses to get them expunged, but the changes also make it easier for people with other sorts of convictions. Specifically, they've changed the way that convictions are counted. That's important, because you can be ineligible to expunge any conviction if you have too many total convictions on your record. Here are the most important changes:
Parolees Become Eligible for 402 Reductions in Utah
There's been a theme lately of the Utah legislature making improvements to the laws on expungements and record reductions.
Utah Legalizes Medical Marijuana! Kinda! Sort Of!
UPDATE: the Utah Legislature passed, and the governor signed, a “compromise bill” that overwrites most of Proposition 2. More information and a new post will be forthcoming.