Legal Defenders

After you have entered a guilty plea, a court may want additional information about you before it decides what sentence to impose. A court may order a presentence report be prepared prior to your sentencing. First, you must contact the agency that has been ordered to prepare your report within 48 hours of being ordered by the court. Generally, if you have pleaded guilty to a felony or a class A misdemeanor, Adult Probation & Parole (AP&P) will prepare your presentence report. AP&P will provide you with a packet to fill out and a date to return to the agency for an interview. Fill out your packet completely. If you have questions about the packet, call your attorney.

A presentence report contains a great deal of information about you. It will give the court information about your personal history, including your childhood, family, relationships, education, employment, finances, substance abuse history, as well as any mental or physical health issues. The report will also contain information about your criminal history, gang affiliation and performance on past probationary periods. The PSR will give the court a summary of the offense taken from police reports and a statement from you about what occurred. Any victims will have the opportunity to make statements about the offense and AP&P will alert the court to any restitution that they believe to be appropriate. Based on all of this information, AP&P will make sentencing recommendations to the court. AP&P may recommend jail, prison, probation, community service, treatment, or other conditions it deems appropriate.

Bring information that will be helpful to AP&P and the sentencing judge, such as proof that you have completed a recent assessment, are attending or have finished treatment, evidence that you are employed or attending school, and the names and contact information for people who can give you positive references. If you are receiving mental health treatment, bring a letter from your doctor or therapist. If you are regularly attending A.A., you could bring a sign-in sheet showing your attendance. If you regularly volunteer at a non-profit or with a religious group, bring letters from those organizations verifying your positive participation in the community. If you have been saving money up to pay restitution to the victim in your case, bring proof that you have been setting that money aside. If you are unemployed, consider bringing a list that shows how many applications you have sent in and with whom.

You will be expected to bring your packet with you to the oral interview. Make sure that your packet is complete and that you arrive early for your appointment. AP&P will prepare a presentence report for the judge based on your written packet and oral interview. If you fail to get your presentence report or miss the oral interview, some judges will order that you be taken into custody.

FEMALE PSI PACKET

MALE PSI PACKET

MALE & FEMALE - PSI SPANISH PACKET

This is the attorney's FAQ page : https://www.daviscountyutah.gov/attorney#faq;

Your assigned defender or the Court Clerk’s office can provide you with that information.

Generally, indigent defendants are not allowed to pick and choose who will represent them. Any concerns that you might have about the attorney appointed to represent you should be told to the judge. The judge can then independently determine if new counsel should be appointed. The judge is required to weigh several factors to determine if a different attorney should be appointed.

If you have been charged in Davis County with a misdemeanor or a felony and you are unable to afford an attorney, you can ask the judge to appoint you a legal defender. The court will ask you about your finances. You will need to provide the court with information such as your marital status, whether you have dependents, where you are employed, if you have savings and debts, and provide a description of property you own. You will also be required to swear that the contents of your application are true.

If the court determines that you qualify for a legal defender, it will appoint one of our defenders to represent you and give you a new court date. You will also be given contact information for your defender.

Unfortunately, we cannot assist you unless you have been appointed to one of our defenders by the Davis Justice Court or the Second District Court in Farmington.

Use the following URL: https://www.utcourts.gov/en/self-help/services/epayments.html

You must show respect for the court, wearing anything but neat and clean clothing is unacceptable. You do not have to dress formally, but having professional apparel such as a dress shirt, tie and slacks is suitable for men. For women, blouses, dresses and skirts at an appropriate length is the proper wardrobe for your day in court. If you are coming to the courthouse straight from working a casual job, it would be a good idea to have a change of clothes in your vehicle. If this is not possible, your clothes still should be presentable and it would be wise to share with the judge about your situation, they will understand.

If you're charged with a felony or a Class A misdemeanor you have the right to what's called a preliminary hearing.  A preliminary hearing is not a trial where there is a jury and the State has to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Instead, a preliminary hearing takes place before a judge who only decides if there is probable cause (or a reasonable basis) to think you were in any way involved in the charged crime no matter how minor that involvement may have been. At a preliminary hearing, the State does not have to reveal all of its evidence or even prove that its evidence was legally gathered. The judge has to treat whatever evidence the State presents as if it were true and rarely considers evidence that might contradict the State’s case. Finally, most rules of evidence do not apply at a preliminary hearing and legal presumptions favor the State. So, unlike a trial, the State very rarely loses a preliminary hearing.

Instead of setting a preliminary hearing at your first appearance, we recommend you enter a “conditional waiver” that protects your right to a preliminary hearing while still allowing your case to move to the next stage. During the next stage, you will meet with your attorney, go over all of the State’s evidence, and file motions to exclude evidence that your attorney believes may have been illegally obtained. You will also find out what plea offer the State is willing to make instead of going to trial. If you decide to enter a plea agreement, then you can finish your case more quickly than if you set a preliminary hearing at first appearance. However, if you or your attorney decide at any time before you go to trial or enter a guilty plea that you do want a preliminary hearing, you can still have that hearing.  The advantage of the conditional waiver is that you will know all of your options and your attorney will have a better chance to prepare for the hearing than if you set a preliminary hearing today.  

The judge will confirm whether you wish to conditionally waive a preliminary hearing. The judge will also tell you your next court date.

You must advise your assigned defender of your desire to appeal within 30 days of your sentencing hearing. You may hire a private attorney to represent you in the appeal but if you are unable to, the Court may find you indigent and assigned an appellate attorney from our office. Once assigned, that attorney will contact you to discuss your case.