Court Opinion

ID: 9570941
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-21 20:27:42.280677+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:23:43.629272
License: Public Domain

ELLETT, Chief Justice
(concurring):
I concur but desire to add another reason for holding as we do. The city judge thought that once a misdemeanor was dismissed, that was the end of prosecution for that crime, and the district judge apparently agreed with him. They did not read the statute (U.C.A.1953, 77-51-6) very carefully. That statute says: “An order for the dismissal of an action as provided in this chapter . . . .” How does this chapter provide for dismissals?
In every instance mentioned in the chapter, the dismissal is by the district court after a bindover on preliminary hearing by the city judge or after an indictment found by a grand jury. Any other dismissal of a misdemeanor is not a bar to further prosecution unless it falls within the rule of double jeopardy, the statute of limitations, or some other rule of law that would also be applicable to felony trials.