The Appellate Group

State v. Smith

State v. Smith, 2025 UT 45 (Petersen, J.)

Criminal

The Utah Supreme Court held:

  • The district court erred by leaving the question of whether the relevant statute of limitations had expired to the jury because the court must “act as a factfinder” and determine by a preponderance of the evidence whether a prosecution is time-barred. 
  • Practice tip: When case law predates a statute, the statutes supersedes the case law to the extent that the two conflict.

Read the full court opinion