The Utah Justice System includes a very important record keeping function.  Record keeping for criminal cases is especially important as an earlier criminal conviction can often be used to enhance (increase) a future charge for a similar crime alleged against the same defendant.  On the other hand, the lack of a criminal record can be used to seek reduction of the penalties or sentence imposed in the event of a conviction.

The actual criminal case records are maintained by the Court Clerk at the courthouse, and one of those records is called a Docket.  Each case has its own docket which may be referred to as a Case Docket or Court Docket.  The Docket is a summary of the filings and proceedings that have occured in a criminal case. In some cases the docket will be quite detailed; in other cases it will be almost abreviated.

Not all Utah Courts have granted online access to criminal case dockets, but most have done so.  Given recent directives it is likely that all Utah Courts will have criminal case dockets online by the end of 2009, perhaps sooner.

The Utah Justice Foundation offers a free Court Docket Request Program. This program is for criminal defendants only at this time. It is not intended for attorneys or for the general public to check on anyone other than himself or herself.

If you are qualified, just complete an online form and we will search online records for the docket to your court case, and then email it to you.  This is a free service of the Utah Justice Foundation, which is provided in order to allow Defendants to be informed of developments in their cases.  This in turn may allow Defendants to seek protection of their rights at the earliest possible moment. 

Visit UtahJusticeFoundation.org and click on the Request a Court Docket link under the Quick Links.

Please note that the Utah Justice Foundation does not provide legal advice. Always consult with an attorney at the earliest possible moment to protect your legal rights.

The Utah Justice Foundation is Seeking Justice for ALL in Utah℠

The Utah Justice System does not generally notify Defendants when a warrant is issued for their arrest.  In many cases the Defendant may not even know that a case exists.

For example, it is not uncommon for law enforcement officers to advise the targets of their investigation, “Just tell me what happened and everything will be just fine.”  The target explains everything, incriminates himself/herself but the officer holds off on an arrest.  Instead, the officer writes it up later (sometimes many weeks later), and submits the case to a Judge by way of a court pleading called an Information.  Based on the Information, the Judge has the power to issue an arrest warrant for the target, who would then be called the Defendant in a criminal case.

Once the warrant is active, the Defendant could face jail time if he or she is detained by a law enforcement officer for something as simple as a a broken tail light. This is true because a warrant check is standard procedure whenever a person is detained.  Indeed, most police cruisers carry a computer for just this purpose. So, if the warrant check reveals an active warrant, then the Defendant will likely spend time in jail until the matter can be resolved or bail is posted.

Further, if the bail amount is high enough, or there is no bail allowed (rare), or law enforcement takes a special interest in the case, a Defendant may be sought out and picked up based on the warrant.  So, both the existence of the warrant and the bail amount, if any, for the warrant are important.

The Utah Justice Foundation offers a free Warrant Check Program. This program is for criminal defendants only. It is not intended for attorneys or for the general public to check on anyone other than himself or herself.  If qualified, just complete an online form and we will search online records for an active warrant.  This is a free service of the Utah Justice Foundation, which is provided in order to allow Defendants to be informed of their rights at the earliest possible moment. 

Visit UtahJusticeFoundation.org and click on the Request a Warrant Check link under the Quick Links.

Please note that the Utah Justice Foundation does not provide legal advice. Always consult with an attorney at the earliest possible moment to protect your legal rights.

The Utah Justice Foundation is Seeking Justice for ALL in Utah℠

Good Morning from West Jordan, Utah.

Yesterday I described the DMV Hearing Request program of the Utah Justice Foundation. It was the first of three online service programs that I will describe here at the UtahJusticeFoundationBLOG. 

Today, I will take a few minutes to talk about the Court Docket Request service program available to criminal defendants in Utah. But first, let’s go over why the Utah Justice Foundation offers this service.

We have a mission to inform, to educate, and to seek Justice for ALL in Utah. Many criminal defendants, especially first-time offenders do not know that a criminal case may be commenced or filed against them without any notice whatsoever! Indeed, it is not uncommon in our experience here at the UJF for a defendant to call us response to one of our notice letters and say, “You have made a mistake; there is no way a criminal case was filed on me!!!” (The three !!! is not an exaggeration.)

After a few questions it is revealed that there was “something that happened around then” - the date of the incident shown on the Court Docket. Then, we might hear that, “the police officer told me that if I just told him what happened, everything would be fine.” Hmm … fine for who?

Well, anyway, it is important for people to have access to the Court Docket because it contains important information about the charges, upcoming hearing, assigned Judge, warrants issued (related topic for tomorrow), and more. The accused offender needs as much information as possible, as soon as possible, for the proper action to be taken by his or her attorney.

So, criminal defendants, or those who believe they may be a criminal defendant, can contact the Utah Justice Foundation and request a copy of the Court Docket for their case. They can then determine the precise status and get better advice from an attorney.  Defendants can either call us at 801-878-9269, or go to the Utah Justice Foundation website and click on the Request a Court Docket link under the Quick Links. A short form is filled out online and submitted via email, and then the UJF can look up the defendant’s case and transmit a copy of the Court Docket to the defendant via email.

Not all Court Dockets are available online, and there are important issues to consider before a criminal defendant makes a trip to the courthouse to get a copy of the docket. For example, is there an active warrant outstanding such that the unsuspecting offender would be taken into custody while trying to get a copy of his or her court docket.

The last example given is one of the reasons why the Utah Justice Foundation provides the free Request a Court Docket program. We also have a Warrant Check program, which will be the topic of my next post.

Make it a great day!

Eagle4Justice

Good evening from Salt Lake City, Utah.

My name is David Elwell, and I have the good fortune to serve as the Director of the Utah Justice Foundation. We seek Justice for ALL in Utah, which includes criminal defendants, victims of crimes, and the rest of the citizens of Utah.

It is with pleasure that I write a few words tonight about one of our three newest online service programs at the Utah Justice Foundation. This is a free online service designed to assist those individuals who have received a DUI citation with making a timely request for a DMV Per Se Hearing.

What is a DMV Per Se Hearing?  It is an administrative hearing conducted by the Driver’s License Division (DLD) of Utah to determine whether the individual who received the DUI citation shall have his or her driver’s license suspended. Many people cited for DUI do not read the fine print of the citation. Therefore, they may not realize that, in most cases, they may continue to drive for up to 30 days pending a determination by the DLD at the Per Se Hearing as to the issue of suspension of the license.

The most important information provided in the fine print is that the person cited has only 10 days from the date of the citation in which to make written request for the Per Se Hearing.  If the 10 days passes without request being made to the DLD, then the individual’s driver’s license will be automatically suspended for the period of time required under Utah law.  For a table showing the DLR’s administrative suspension periods as well as other penalties imposed for DUIs in Utah, go to the Utah Justice Foundation website and click on the DUI Cases link in the left column.

After reviewing the table and other information provided with regard to DUIs in Utah, a person can click on the Quick Link in the right column of the page – Request a DMV Hearing – and they will be taken to a page of information on the Per Se Hearing, including a link to the DLD approved form for requesting a hearing.

The person can fill out the approved form, print it, and then fax or mail it as indicated on the form. For information on what to do next, a quick call to the Utah Justice Foundation will get all of the person’s questions answered.

By the way, if a person misses the 10-day deadline for requesting the Per Se Hearing, it is possible to request a “late hearing.” Give us call and we can discuss the possibilities as, of course, each case is different.

David Elwell aka
Eagle4Justice

The Utah Justice Foundation has a mission to inform, to educate, and to seek Justice for ALL involved with the criminal justice system in the state of Utah. This Utah non-profit organization seeks to help criminal defendants receive fair and balanced Justice for their particular circumstances and case! It seeks long-term solutions for each defendant, while being mindful of the interests of victims and society.

Often times, criminal defendants may not even know that a case is pending against them (after being assured by the police officer that “everything will be fine if you just tell me what happened”). In response, the Utah Justice Foundation will provide informational tools to these defendants. There are three online tools or programs available for immediate use at www.UtahJusticeFoundation.org, and they are:

• Docket Request Program.
• Warrant Check Program.
• DMV Per Se Hearing Request Program.

The program names give us most of the story, but the Director of the Utah Justice Foundation has promised to provide further details right here in the coming days.

So stay tuned to the Utah Justice Foundation BLOG for more on these new online programs for criminal defendants …