The Utah Supreme Court recently addressed the "prosecutor consent law" for DUI pleas contained in 41-6a-513.
The case hinged on a seperations of powers constitutional challenge to the statute when a DUI defendant was trying to plead guilty to a class B misdemeanor DUI charge when further information was obtained after charging that another person involved in the crash had sustained injuries. Defendant was trying to get the benefit of the class B misdemeanor filing knowing that enhanced charges were in his future. This is the exact reason this "prosecutor consent law" exists; to prevent these races to the justice court to bar future proper charging of a defendant under double jeopardy protection.
The Court did not reach the constitutionality of the statute because it held that even if they did make that finding, it was not clear it would give defendant any relief being sought and therefore they declined to grant extraordinary relief.
If you ever find your court trying to subvert the statute requiring prosecutors to agree to a DUI plea in open court, this case may be helpful to you.
You may read the full opinon here: Adams v. Hon. Robison.
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