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Lucero v. Kennard4/1/2004
cision to deny Lucero post-conviction relief based on his failure to request a trial de novo is simply incorrect. Had Lucero requested a trial de novo, the district court would have been required to act as if "the proceedings had begun in that court in the first instance." Hinson, 966 P.2d at 276. As such, Lucero would not have had the opportunity to focus his "appeal" on the particular legal conclusions or factual findings of the justice court that he believed were erroneous. Lucero's trial de novo would not have been a framed, particularized proceeding that was directed at the review of specific *182 alleged errors; instead, the district court conducting the trial de novo would have acted as a broad, general tribunal that would have examined the charges anew. Insofar as this avenue of appeal would simply not have given Lucero the opportunity to directly challenge any alleged errors below, I think it clear that the trial de novo cannot be regarded as a "direct appeal." [FN3]
FN3. There is some confusion as to whether Murray City Justice Court's argument is predicated on Utah Code Annotated section 78-35a-106(1)(a) (1996) (precluding relief under the Post Conviction Remedies Act where the petition is based on a ground that "may still be raised on direct appeal") or whether it is instead predicated on Utah Code Annotated section 78-35a-106(1)(c) (1996) (precluding relief under the Post Conviction Remedies Act where the petition is based on a ground that "could have been but was not raised at trial or on appeal"). Though Murray City
Justice Court's brief did not specify which of these subsections its argument was predicated on, the brief did directly discuss Utah Code Annotated section 78-35a-102(1) (1996), which states that relief is appropriate where a defendant has "exhausted all other legal remedies, including a direct appeal." (Emphasis added.) Given this reference, and given the repeated references throughout the remainder of the brief to Lucero's failure to exercise his rights to a "direct appeal," I think it clear that any specific argument arising under Utah Code Annotated section 78-35a-106(1)(c) is not properly before us.
Even were we to consider the subtle differences embodied by section 78- 35a-106(1)(c), however, I think that the result here would be the same. As discussed above, though the trial de novo is considered to be the form by which a defendant can "appeal" his or her justice court conviction, it is still nevertheless true that the district court conducting the trial de novo cannot consider any particular claims of error that might have arisen below. Thus, insofar as the defendant in such circumstances cannot "raise" any issues in his "appeal," I think that the result under either section 78-35a-106(1)(a) or section 78-35a-106(1)(c) would be the same.
**21 As I see it, the plain language of the statutory scheme thus provides a defendant who has been convicted in a justice court proceeding with two separate avenues of relief. First, the defendant can exercise his statutory right to file for a trial de novo. The advantages of this course would be clear: though the defendant would not have the opportunity to have the trial court review any potential errors that occurred below, the defendant would have the opportunity under this fresh start to try and persuade a new finder of fact of his or her innocence. Should the defendant choose not to file for a trial de novo, however, the defendant is still allowed to petition a district court for post-conviction relief under the Post-Conviction Remedies Act. In this hearing, the trial court would have the authority to directly review the proceedings in the justice court to determine whether any constitutional error occurred. [FN4] In this case, Lucero prop
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