Burglary of a Vehicle in Utah is a Class A misdemeanor. A fine not to exceed $2,500, plus a 90% surcharge may be assessed against you. You could be placed on just 12 months court probation. Or, if you have a more extensive Utah criminal record, the court could require a Presentencing Investigation Report (“PSI”) by the Utah Department of Corrections, Adult Probation and Parole. A PSI report is where an AP&P officer conducts a more thorough history, report and recommendations to the judge on what type of sentence you should serve. Your Utah car burglary defense attorney then has a chance to review and challenge the report at the sentencing hearing.
Because Burglary of a Vehicle is a Class A Misdemeanor, prison time is not possible, unless there are accompanying felony charges. If Misdemeanors are the only charges filed, the worst that can happen is up to one year in the respective county jail.
If you are accused of burglarizing a cohabitant’s car, your burglary of the car will be tagged as a crime of domestic violence. A cohabitant means, family member, former lover, current girlfriend, ex-wife, etc. See Utah Code Ann. 78B-7-102(5) (202)) for an exhaustive listing of what cohabitant means for purposes of tagging a Utah criminal charge with domestic violence. A listing of all crimes that can be tagged with domestic violence is listed at Utah Code Ann. 77-36-1(4) (2023).
Consequences of a Domestic Violence Burglary of a Vehicle Conviction. Bottom line is that if you are convicted of domestic violence you will not be able to handle, possess, transfer or even breathe the word firearm without being charged with a 3rd Degree Felony. Further, there is federal law restricting your right to bear arms with a domestic violence conviction.
Burglary of a vehicle often involves breaking the car windows, stealing a stereo, or maybe a laptop that was left inside the vehicle. Maybe the items stolen were expensive work tools from a construction site totaling $1,000 or more.
Paying the criminal victim back what was stolen or damaged is called restitution. Restitution under federal law never goes away in Bankruptcy. See 11 U.S. Code § 523(13) (2020). Exceptions to Discharge.
Utah law regarding restitution requires that criminal defendants convicted of any crimes pay all restitution associated with that conviction. If you don’t pay all your court ordered restitution, you can never obtain an expungement of your Class A Misdemeanor Burglary of a Vehicle.
You have to wait 5 years from the date your Class A Misdemeanor Burglary of a Car case is closed successfully to start the expungement process. The Utah expungement process takes from three to six months with the Utah Bureau of Criminal Identification, depending on their backlog.
The Intent Defense. You have to intentionally open the door unlawfully. Did you have permission from the owner on a prior occasion or currently have permission. You can’t accidently open the wrong mini van in the Walmart parking lot and be charged with Burglary of a Vehicle.
You also have to intend on committing a felony or theft to be convicted of Burglary of a Vehicle. Meaning, just opening the door is not enough. The jury has to believe beyond a reasonable doubt that you intend on stealing stuff from the car, or committing some other type of felony while inside the vehicle.
Utah Burglary of a Vehicle Defense Attorney Jake Gunter. Free Consult. (801) 373-6345. Flexible payment plans. Call/TXTtoday to see where you sit regarding your breaking and entering charges.
Here is the full code below:
76-6-204. Burglary of a vehicle — Charge of other offense.
(1) Any person who unlawfully enters any vehicle with intent to commit a felony or theft is guilty of a burglary of a vehicle.
(2) Burglary of a vehicle is a class A misdemeanor.
(3) A charge against any person for a violation of Subsection (1) shall not preclude a charge for a commission of any other offense.
