State of Utah, Plaintiff and Respondent v. Richard Dee Thomas, Defendant and Petitioner

Summary

The Utah Supreme Court held that issuing a search warrant is a core judicial function that a court commissioner lacks constitutional authority to perform. It reversed the court of appeals on that issue and remanded for determination of whether the trial court's refusal to suppress the resulting search evidence was reversible error. The court affirmed the refusal to consider Thomas's photo-array challenge because his appellate briefing lacked the required legal analysis and authority.