AI-generated summary, not yet reviewed by Better Utah staff. Please consult the bill text.

Under current Utah law, a person charged with a crime involving the use of force can ask a judge to hold a special pretrial hearing to decide whether the force was legally justified, which can result in the charges being dismissed before trial if the defendant makes an initial showing of justification. This bill would add a new limit for cases involving deadly force that results in someone's death: the defendant could not use this pretrial hearing process unless they, or someone else on their behalf, reported the use of force to 911 or law enforcement within 24 hours of the incident. The bill would also create an automatic legal advantage for defendants who do report within that 24-hour window in cases involving deadly force — treating that report as satisfying the initial justification showing so that the state must prove the force was not justified, without the defendant needing to separately build that case first.