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Unrepresented And Untimely: The Pcra's Disservice To Indigent Prisoners, Nathan Margioni
Unrepresented And Untimely: The Pcra's Disservice To Indigent Prisoners, Nathan Margioni
Utah OnLaw: The Utah Law Review Online Supplement
The Post-Conviction Remedies Act’s fundamental flaw is its effect on the availability of relief to indigent prisoners. A post-conviction review is often a prisoner’s only opportunity to challenge the failure of appellate counsel to provide effective assistance. Because the legislature has eliminated the common law writ of habeas corpus as a method to challenge a conviction or sentence, the PCRA is the only available avenue for a post-conviction review. The indigent defendant, however, is particularly vulnerable to the PCRA’s restrictions, due to his or her reliance on appointed rather than private counsel during the appeals phase, and lack of resources …
Protecting Tax Payers And Crime Victims: The Case For Restricting Utah's Preliminary Hearings To Felony Offenses, Paul G. Cassell, Thomas E. Goodwin
Protecting Tax Payers And Crime Victims: The Case For Restricting Utah's Preliminary Hearings To Felony Offenses, Paul G. Cassell, Thomas E. Goodwin
Utah OnLaw: The Utah Law Review Online Supplement
Requiring preliminary hearings for Class A misdemeanors is undesirable for two simple reasons. First, the court’s decision will result in hundreds of additional preliminary hearings a year, thus imposing substantial costs on taxpayers and burdens on an already overwhelmed criminal justice system. Second, the decision will create substantial hardships for crime victims, who will now be twice subjected to cross-examination by defense attorneys—once at the preliminary hearing and again later at trial. And these costs will generate no significant benefit in return.