Utah Code § 76-1-501

Presumption of innocence -- "Element of the offense" defined

Applied in 6 court decisions — leading case 2019 UT App 173 - State v. Popp (2019)

Most recently applied in State v. Smith (March 2025)

Amended by Chapter 40, 2014 General Session; Amended by Chapter 189, 2014 General Session

How often courts cite this section

citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

(1) A defendant in a criminal proceeding is presumed to be innocent until each element of the offense charged against him is proved beyond a reasonable doubt. In the absence of this proof, the defendant shall be acquitted.

(2) As used in this part, "element of the offense" means:

(a) the conduct, attendant circumstances, or results of conduct proscribed, prohibited, or forbidden in the definition of the offense; and

(b) the culpable mental state required.

(3) The existence of jurisdiction and venue are not elements of the offense but shall be established by a preponderance of the evidence.

Official source: Utah State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Utah statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.