Not all guilty pleas are the same. Utah’s criminal procedure recognizes several distinct plea types — including the standard guilty plea, the Alford plea, and the no contest (nolo contendere) plea — and each creates a different relationship between the…
Most Utah criminal convictions result from guilty pleas, not trials. And while a knowing and voluntary guilty plea waives most constitutional challenges to the underlying proceedings, it does not permanently foreclose all legal challenges. When the plea itself was defective…
Most Utah criminal convictions result from guilty pleas, not trials. And yet the conventional wisdom — that a guilty plea ends all appellate options — is wrong. A guilty plea narrows the issues available on appeal dramatically, but it does…
Most Utah criminal convictions follow a guilty plea, not a trial. That means most criminal appeals involve either a challenge to the plea itself — whether it was knowing, voluntary, and supported by an adequate factual basis — or a…
Lotus Appellate Law handles appeals throughout Utah, serving clients in all counties and courts across the state including: