State v. Glosenger
State v. Glosenger, 2022 UT App 129 (Christiansen Forster, J.)
Criminal
After a car crash where three people were killed, Driver was charged with three counts of manslaughter. Following a preliminary hearing, the district court judge declined to bind over Driver on the charges because, it reasoned, the State had failed to introduce evidence other than the fact of the collision to prove that Driver had crashed recklessly. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding:
- The State carried its burden to support each element of the charged crime, even though the evidence relied on to make this determination—Driver’s own statement to Officer—runs counter to the evidence admitted by the State—eyewitness statements, a report from a collision investigation team, and Driver’s cell phone records, among others. At bind over, “the magistrate must draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the prosecution,” regardless of alternative inferences.