(DOWNLOAD) "State v. Jiminez" by Supreme Court Of Utah * Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: State v. Jiminez
- Author : Supreme Court Of Utah
- Release Date : January 21, 1997
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 48 KB
Description
Defendant Jose Jiminez appeals from his conviction of rape of a child, a first degree felony. He was sentenced to prison for an indeterminate term of five years to life. He timely moved for a new trial on the ground that newly discovered evidence would have resulted in a more favorable verdict. The trial court held a hearing on the motion but denied it after argument and without taking additional evidence. It entered an unsigned minute entry on November 14, 1994, which gave no specific reasons for the denial. Defendant filed his notice of appeal eleven days later, on November 25. Two months later, on January 25, 1995, the trial court signed a formal written order denying the motion for a new trial, stating that ""the evidence presented by defendant does not rise to the level contemplated by rule 24 of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure."" We must dismiss defendant's appeal because his notice of appeal was prematurely filed. Utah Rule of Appellate Procedure 4(b) specifies, ""A notice of appeal filed before the disposition of [a motion for a new trial] shall have no effect."" In Swenson Associates Architects v. State, 889 P.2d 415, 416 (Utah 1994), the plaintiff filed a timely post-trial motion, which was denied in a signed minute entry. The plaintiff filed his appeal within thirty days of this minute entry but four days before the court issued its written order denying the new trial motion. We ruled that this court lacked jurisdiction because the plaintiff had filed his notice of appeal before the trial court entered its order. Defendant seeks to distinguish this case from Swenson on the ground that the unsigned minute entry entered by the trial court in the instant case did not direct either counsel to prepare a formal written order denying the motion, as was the case in Swenson. That distinction is unavailing since the minute entry in this case was unsigned, and we have consistently dismissed appeals from unsigned minute entries. See, e.g., South Salt Lake v. Burton, 718 P.2d 405 (Utah 1986) (citing numerous cases holding same).