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Utah Supreme Court hears argument on whether postconviction petitions are 'quasi‑criminal' for appellate rule purposes
Summary
At oral argument in Ryos v. State, counsel for the petitioner urged that postconviction proceedings should be treated as "quasi‑criminal," meaning appellate rule 4F (with its flexibility) should apply to motions to reinstate appeals; the state countered that the issue was waived and that habeas/postconviction proceedings have historically been treated as civil.
Benjamin Miller, counsel for petitioner Frank Ryos, told the Utah Supreme Court that postconviction proceedings are "quasi criminal" because they directly challenge a criminal conviction and therefore should be governed by appellate rule 4F rather than rule 4G. "Postconviction literally, I mean, the word conviction is in the title," Miller said, arguing that the more flexible 4F standard is necessary to avoid denying relief to defendants who received incorrect advice from counsel.
Miller asked the court to reverse the district court’s denial of a motion to reinstate an appeal and to remand for factfinding or a hearing. He said applying rule 4G’s stricter deadlines could leave a petitioner without a remedy even where counsel and courts provided wrong information about available relief, urging the court to adopt a constitutional‑avoidance construction that would permit 4F principles to apply to postconviction motions.
Michael Gad, appearing for the state, urged the court to affirm. Gad said Ryos abandoned the preserved issue on appeal by…
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