Jeroldene Bailey, Plaintiff and Respondent v. Randee Bayles, Defendant and Petitioner

Summary

The Utah Supreme Court affirmed the court of appeals' decision upholding a permanent protective order, concluding that the order was sustainable under the Cohabitant Abuse Act even though the trial court had relied on a different statutory theory. The alternate statutory basis was apparent from the record, and the trial court's findings that Bayles had slapped Bailey and threatened her with a pistol were sufficient to establish abuse under the statute. Although the court of appeals improperly made additional factual findings, that error did not require reversal because the trial court's existing findings independently supported the order. Justice Howe, dissenting, would have reversed and remanded for consideration of whether the evidence supported the stalking findings, while Chief Justice Durham concurred separately to object to any suggestion that Utah due-process analysis must move in lockstep with federal analysis.