Latest Case: State v. Lopez (Criminal Law)

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MICHAEL C. DORF

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State v. Lopez

Citation: 2020 UT 61

Opinion Date: August 18, 2020

Judge: Thomas R. Lee

Areas of Law: Criminal Law

The Supreme Court held that any power a defendant has to subpoena witnesses at a preliminary hearing is limited by the court's authority to quash unreasonable subpoenas, and that reasonableness inquiry must be informed by the standards that govern preliminary hearings and the rights that the law guarantees for crime victims. The two defendants in this consolidated opinion sought to compel their alleged victims to testify by way of subpoena. The victims, however, had previously participated in interviews about their alleged abuse, and those interviews were introduced as reliable hearsay at the defendants' preliminary hearings. The Supreme Court held that once the State has used a victim's reliable hearsay to make a prima facie showing of probable cause, a subpoena compelling the victim to give additional, live testimony will survive a motion to quash only if the defendant demonstrates that the subpoena is necessary to present specific evidence that is reasonably likely to defeat the showing of probable cause.