State v. Sanders

Justice Pearce, opinion of the Court:

INTRODUCTION

¶ 1 Zane Charles Sanders cannot legally possess a firearm because the Utah Code prohibits any individual convicted of a felony from, among other things, "intentionally or knowingly" having a firearm in his possession. UTAH CODE § 76-10-503(1)(b), (3) (2014). A jury convicted Sanders of violating section 503 after police officers responding to a domestic complaint found Sanders in his backyard carrying a rifle.

¶ 2 Sanders claimed that when the police officers arrived at his home, he was moving his girlfriend's son's firearm back into the house.…