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

Utah law currently lets people claim self-defense ("justification") when they use force to protect themselves or others, and it also lets prosecutors treat harm to an unintended person as if it were intentional, under a legal concept called "transferred intent." This bill would change both of those rules: if someone uses force that would otherwise be justified against one person but recklessly or with criminal negligence injures or kills an uninvolved bystander instead, prosecutors could no longer automatically treat that bystander harm as intentional, and the person would lose the ability to claim self-defense specifically for the harm done to the bystander. The bill also updates the pretrial hearing process so a defendant charged in this kind of bystander-injury case can still ask a judge, before trial, to review the case; to succeed, the defendant must first show both that the force used against the original target was justified and that they weren't reckless or negligent in harming the bystander, after which prosecutors would have to prove otherwise by clear and convincing evidence for the case to move forward to trial.