State v. Norris, 20040880.
| Decision Date | 19 January 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 20040880.,20040880. |
| Citation | 2007 UT 5,152 P.3d 305 |
| Parties | STATE of Utah, Plaintiff, Respondent, and Cross-Petitioner, v. Richard F. NORRIS, Defendant, Petitioner, and Cross-Respondent. |
| Court | Utah Supreme Court |
Mark L. Shurtleff, Att'y Gen., E. Neal Gunnarson, Jeffrey S. Gray, Christine F. Soltis, Asst. Att'ys Gen., Salt Lake City, for plaintiff.
Jennifer K. Gowans, Provo, Salt Lake City, for defendant.
On Certiorari to the Utah Court of Appeals
¶ 1 The defendant, Richard Norris, challenges the constitutionality of the Communications Fraud statute, Utah Code section 76-10-1801, as overbroad. Specifically, he seeks review of the decision of the court of appeals holding that the statute is constitutional.
¶ 2 The State cross-petitions, seeking reversal of the decision of the court of appeals that an unconditional guilty plea does not waive a defendant's appellate challenge to the facial constitutionality of the statute under which the defendant was charged.1
¶ 3 Because we reverse, holding that an unconditional guilty plea does waive a defendant's right to challenge the constitutionality of a statute, we do not reach the other issues presented.
¶ 4 Review of the specific facts leading to the charges against the defendant are not necessary for the resolution of this matter. The defendant was originally charged with seven counts of communications fraud. The State amended the information, and the defendant was ultimately tried on five counts of communications fraud.
¶ 5 After three days of trial, the defendant elected to change his plea and entered an unconditional guilty plea to three counts of communications fraud. All are third degree felonies.
¶ 6 The defendant made no attempt to withdraw his unconditional guilty plea. He did, however, timely file an appeal. The Utah Court of Appeals upheld the convictions. We granted certiorari to review the correctness of that action.
¶ 7 On certiorari, we review the decision of the court of appeals and not the decision of the trial court.2 "The determination of whether a court has subject matter jurisdiction is a question of law, which we review for correctness."3
¶ 8 In order to reach the issues of overbreadth and vagueness, the court of appeals initially addressed the question of whether it had subject matter jurisdiction to review the conviction on appeal once the defendant had entered an unconditional guilty plea. The court of appeals4 found that a facial challenge to the constitutionality of a statute is jurisdictional in nature and that, therefore, an unconditional guilty plea could not act as a waiver or bar to raising this claim for the first time on appeal. We disagree.
¶ 9 An unconditional guilty plea waives any right the defendant may have had to challenge the basis of his conviction on its merits. The defendant's effort to describe the constitutional challenge he raises as a challenge to the subject matter jurisdiction of the district court is simply without merit as a tool for appealing the conviction after the plea has been entered and the sentence imposed. The court of appeals lacked jurisdiction to entertain the appeal. The opinion of the court of appeals is vacated, and the judgment of the district court is affirmed.
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State v. Mooers
...OF REVIEW ¶ 5 Whether a court has jurisdiction over an appeal is a matter of law, which we review for correctness. State v. Norris , 2007 UT 5, ¶ 7, 152 P.3d 305. Statutory interpretation is also a matter of law reviewed for correctness. State v. Smith , 2005 UT 57, ¶ 6, 122 P.3d 615.ANALYS......
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Johnson v. Johnson
...1177 (finding that parties mischaracterized their claim as a lack of subject matter jurisdiction in order to avoid waiver); cf. State v. Norris, 2007 UT 5, ¶ 9, 152 P.3d 305 (finding that a defendant's constitutional challenge to the statute under which he was convicted did not raise a chal......
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State v. Mattinson
... ... The court of appeals affirmed his conviction, relying on its previous ruling in State v. Norris.1 ... ¶ 2 Mattinson then petitioned for a writ of certiorari, which we granted. In our original order, we requested that the parties ... ...
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Norris v. Fourth District Court, No. 10-4030 (10th Cir. 6/7/2010)
...unconditional guilty plea does waive a defendant's right to challenge the constitutionality of a statute . . . ." State v. Norris, 152 P.3d 305, 306 (Utah 2007) ("Norris II"). Norris subsequently filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in federal district court, seeking relief pursuant......