Being charged with a crime in Taylorsville, UT can turn your life upside down. Regardless of whether the charges involve a misdemeanor or a felony, the consequences of being convicted can include steep fines, incarceration, loss of your driver’s license, loss of your gun privileges, mandatory community service, supervised probation, and other penalties. A conviction will also result in you receiving a criminal record, which can create lasting difficulties when it comes to seeking employment, getting approved for student loans, or earning the professional licenses you need to advance your career.
When the consequences of being convicted are so devastating, it’s crucial to make sure that your Constitutional rights are being protected by a tough and experienced criminal defense attorney. With more than 16 years of experience handling a wide range of serious criminal charges in Taylorsville and the surrounding area, including DUI, drug possession and distribution, simple and aggravated assault, weapons crimes, theft, sex crimes, murder, and manslaughter, attorney Darwin Overson is prepared to fight hard for justice on you and your family’s behalf.
It is important to act quickly after you or someone you love has been arrested. Call the criminal defense lawyers at Overson Law at (801) 758-2287 for your free, completely confidential legal evaluation. Darwin is available around the clock to make emergency jail and holding center visits.
Common Criminal Charges in Taylorsville, UT
There are many different crimes listed in the Utah Code, but some of them are charged far more often than others. Our criminal defense lawyers commonly handle the following crimes – though if your charges are not on this list, we can still help defend you:
Drunk Driving
Drunk driving/driving under the influence (DUI) is an incredibly serious offense, and Utah takes it more seriously than many other states by having the lowest “legal limit” in the nation. While most states set the limit for drunk driving at .08%, Utah uses .05%, making our rule even more strict.
When you are charged with drunk driving, you can lose your license, spend time in jail, and pay very high fines. If you drive for work, this can upend your life entirely. Even if you cannot fight the charges, you might be able to obtain a hardship license and otherwise work with the system to avoid the harshest penalties.
Theft
From shoplifting to stealing unattended property not in a store, you could face criminal charges for theft. The actual level of crime charged can vary depending on the amount stolen and the specific property stolen, but in any case, it can result in fines and serious penalties.
Cases involving stolen firearms, vehicles, and credit cards are often more serious, and our lawyers can help defend you from the harshest penalties.
Drug Crimes
Whether you are charged with possessing drugs with the intent to use them yourself or you are charged with possession with the intent to distribute or actual distribution, our lawyers can help fight the charges against you. In some cases, you might not know there were drugs in a space if you share it with a roommate or if someone left something in your car. Charges in these cases would be unfair. Even in cases where you did have drugs and knew you were trying to sell or otherwise distribute them, you might have been subjected to illegal searches or seizures that might make the charges invalid.
Assault
Fights that get out of hand are often the main reason for assault charges. If you were just defending yourself or others, these charges should never be issued in the first place – and if both parties were aggressors in a bar fight or other argument, then the fact that it turned a bit violent should not lead to years in jail. Our attorneys can help fight the charges and, where possible, seek out plea bargains that might reduce charges and lower the overall penalties you face.
Services Our Criminal Defense Lawyers Offer in Taylorsville, UT
Our attorneys can handle your case from beginning to end and even beyond. However, the point at which you need a lawyer might vary depending on the current status of your case. If you are facing any of the following legal issues, our attorneys can help you:
Bail Hearings
If you are arrested and denied bail or bail was set at a very high value, we can fight to get it lowered. Fighting a case from outside of jail is always preferable, and you can continue spending time with your family, working, and serving your community while you are outside of jail. If you are stuck in jail without bail, they are setting you up for failure.
Bench Warrants
If you were previously charged with a crime or faced several traffic tickets, you might have had a court date you did not know about at the time. Judges can issue bench warrants, allowing you to be arrested the next time you encounter police. These can last for months or even years before you find out about them the hard way. If you know you have a warrant or were recently arrested on a bench warrant, call us for help getting the warrant dropped and scheduling a new hearing to deal with the rest of the case against you.
Probation and Parole Violations
If you have already been through the process of a criminal case and were released on probation or parole, sticking to the terms of your release is important. If you violated parole or probation, you might be rearrested and sent back to jail or prison, but our lawyers can fight the accusations that you violated and potentially help get you re-released.
Criminal Cases
As mentioned, we can fight the whole case from beginning to end to try to deny the prosecution evidence, get charges dropped and dismissed, win the case at trial, or, barring that, try to get you sentenced to a lower sentence than the prosecution might want.
Appeals
If you previously lost a criminal case, our lawyers might be able to get the conviction overturned through appeals. In many cases, you have to act quickly, with a limited time to appeal a case directly. However, if you were in prison on a wrongful conviction and discovered new evidence, there may be additional “collateral appeals” we can file under the PCRA (Post-Conviction Remedies Act).
What Are the Criminal Penalties for a Misdemeanor in Taylorsville?
Like most states, Utah separates crimes into two categories: misdemeanors, which are lesser offenses, and felonies, which are more serious and therefore carry longer sentences and higher fines. While misdemeanors carry lighter penalties than felonies, both will result in the creation of a permanent criminal record, which any potential employer will be able to access by running a background check. Even minor misdemeanors can have long-lasting negative impacts on your personal and professional life.
In Utah, misdemeanors are divided into three groups called “classes.” These classes are as follows:
Class C Misdemeanor
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- Fine — Up to $750
- Sentence — Up to 90 days
- Examples — Driving with a suspended license, public intoxication
Class B Misdemeanor
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- Fine — Up to $1,000
- Sentence — Up to 6 months
- Examples — Possession of marijuana (less than 1 ounce), simple assault, trespassing, reckless driving, DUI
Class A Misdemeanor
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- Fine — Up to $2,500
- Sentence — Up to 1 year
- Examples — DUI resulting in injury, theft, negligent homicide
Fines and Prison Sentences if You’re Convicted of a Felony in UT
Like misdemeanors, felonies are also divided into three groups, which are each assigned numbered “degrees.” The lower the number, the more serious the crime and its possible penalties, with examples below:
Third Degree Felony
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- Fine — Up to $5,000
- Sentence — Up to 5 years
- Examples — Aggravated assault, possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, prescription forgery
Second Degree Felony
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- Fine — Up to $10,000
- Sentence — Up to 15 years
- Examples — Robbery, kidnapping, manslaughter
First Degree Felony
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- Fine — Up to $10,000
- Sentence — Up to life in prison
- Examples — Rape, murder, aggravated burglary, aggravated robbery
Utah also has a fourth class of felony called a “capital” felony, where capital punishment, or the death penalty, is a possible consequence of being convicted. Aggravated murder is the only capital felony in Utah. Prosecutors seldom choose to pursue the death penalty against defendants charged with this offense.
Depending on what sort of crime a defendant is charged with, he or she might face other penalties specific to his or her offense. For example, a defendant who is convicted of a sex crime will have to register as a sex offender, which can create major disturbances to daily life. To give another example, the Ignition Interlock Restricted Driver Law passed in 2006 requires all defendants convicted of DUI to install a breathalyzer called an ignition interlock device in their vehicles. If the device detects alcohol on the driver’s breath, the car’s engine will not start.
Depending on the defendant’s circumstances, it may be possible to obtain a lighter sentence or get approval to participate in a diversion program, such as Drug Court. In Drug Court, which is similar to probation, the defendant agrees to comply with certain rules and restrictions while his or her guilty plea is held in abeyance, or suspended. If the defendant completes the Drug Court program successfully, the plea is withdrawn, and the charges against the defendant are dismissed.
Utah Criminal Defense Lawyers Serving Taylorsville
If you or one of your loved ones was arrested for a misdemeanor or felony in Taylorsville, it’s critical to start building your case as soon as possible. To start exploring the legal options that may be available to you in a free and confidential case review, call our criminal defense lawyers at Overson Law at (801) 758-2287 right away. Darwin will answer all of your legal questions and help you understand the next steps that need to be taken in your case.
