Case Summaries
| Jurisdiction | Utah,United States |
| Citation | Vol. 11 No. 10 Pg. 50 |
| Pages | 50 |
| Publication year | 1998 |
Daniel M. Torrence, J.
W.BJ. v. STATE
353 Utah Adv. Rep. 11 (Utah Ct. App., Oct. 1,1998). Attorneys: Mary C. Corporan for Salt Lake City; Jan Graham for W.B.J., a minor.
W.B.J., a minor, was found guilty of possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Prior to trial, the juvenile court judge determined that the minor and his family were not indigent, and thus denied the minor's request for court-appointed counsel. In reaching this decision, the court focused primarily on "VA comp/ disability" income of $174 per month received by the minor's mother, but without further information as to the source or duration of the income, or its availability for W.B.J, 's defense. On appeal, the defendant argued the juvenile court erred in finding that he was not indigent and in denying him counsel.
The Utah Court of Appeals affirmed the conviction. The Court noted that minors are not constitutionally entitled to counsel. However, Utah law provides that juvenile defendants who are indigent must be provided counsel whether or not incarceration is a possible punishment. (U.C.A. 78-3a-913(l)(a)). However, the Court of Appeals held that because W.BJ. never asserted his emancipation, he was unemancipated, and, as such, he was part of a domestic unit, and the juvenile court was correct in considering the resources of W.B.J.'s parents. Finally, the Court ruled that, in the absence of constitutional error even if W.BJ. were statutorially entitled to counsel, he failed to demonstrate on appeal the likelihood of a different result at trial, and thus the conviction would stand.
In a strongly-worded dissent, Presiding Judge Davis characterizes the majority opinion as a "strained" interpretation of United States Supreme Court decisions and Utah law.
ARCHULETA v. HUGHES
353 Utah Adv. Rep. 17 (Utah, October 2,1998). Attorneys: J. Kelly Walker and Richard K. Glauser for Archuleta; Donald C. Hughes, pro se.
Archuleta was injured in an auto accident and retained attorney Donald Hughes. Hughes settled her claim against the other driver's insurer, including $2,400 for unpaid medical expenses. Hughes' fee included one-third of the unpaid medical expenses. Archuleta sued Hughes for negligence and malpractice because Hughes submitted her unpaid medical expenses to the third party insurer (and took a fee there from), rather than submitting them to her own insurance company as a Personal Injury...
To continue reading
Request your trial