Evidentiary rulings are among the most frequently appealed issues in Utah civil and criminal practice — and among the most frequently denied on harmless error grounds. The reason is a structural problem: most evidentiary objections at trial are made quickly,…
A PCRA petition is only as strong as the evidence behind it. Courts do not grant relief based on allegations — they grant it based on facts. And in post-conviction practice, the facts that matter most are often the ones…
A witness who testified against the defendant at trial has come forward and said they lied. Their testimony — which may have been the prosecution’s central evidence — was false, and they are now willing to say so under oath….
A criminal conviction does not affect every defendant equally. For non-citizens — lawful permanent residents, visa holders, DACA recipients, and undocumented individuals — a Utah conviction can trigger consequences that far exceed the criminal sentence itself: deportation, permanent bars to…
Drug offenses represent a substantial portion of Utah criminal convictions — and drug cases generate some of the most frequently successful PCRA claims in the state. The intersection of Fourth Amendment search and seizure law (which governs most drug evidence),…
The PCRA evidentiary hearing is the moment in post-conviction proceedings when the theoretical becomes factual. Where a direct appeal reviews a cold paper record, an evidentiary hearing is a live proceeding — witnesses testify, evidence is introduced, attorneys examine and…
Most post-conviction relief proceedings in Utah are subject to a strict one-year filing deadline. DNA testing petitions are the exception. Under Utah Code § 78B-9-301, an individual convicted of a felony may file a petition for post-conviction DNA testing at…
Actual innocence is the most powerful — and the most demanding — ground for post-conviction relief in Utah. Unlike other PCRA grounds, which ask whether legal procedures were followed correctly or whether counsel performed competently, an actual innocence claim asks…
Evidence that did not exist at trial — or that the defense could not have found with reasonable diligence — can support a post-conviction relief petition even years after conviction. This ground for PCRA relief, codified at Utah Code §…
Lotus Appellate Law handles appeals throughout Utah, serving clients in all counties and courts across the state including: