State v. Schmidt

Chief Justice DURRANT,

opinion of the Court:

Introduction

1 1 We are asked to review a magistrate's decision, at the preliminary hearing stage, to dismiss charges of rape and child sexual abuse. Under Utah's liberal bindover standard, a magistrate must view the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution. This means that when reasonable inferences from the evidence cut both for and against the state's case, the magistrate lacks discretion to choose between them and must leave such a determination to the fact-finder at trial, But a magistrate may disregard any testimony that is so…