Matthew B. Durrant
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Matthew B. Durrant (born March 27, 1957) is the chief justice of the Utah Supreme Court. He is a graduate of both Brigham Young University and
Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...
. Durrant had a clerkship with Judge Monroe McKay of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, a position as a lawyer for the Utah firm Parr, Brown, Gee, and Loveless for over a decade, and time spent on the bench of Utah's Third Judicial District.


Early life and education

Matthew Durrant was born in Arkansas, where his father was stationed at Fort Chaffee. His family continued to live in Arkansas for a short time before moving to
Provo, Utah Provo ( ) is the fourth-largest city in Utah, United States. It is south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the largest city and county seat of Utah County and is home to Brigham Young University (BYU). Provo lies between the ...
where Durrant spent his elementary school years. When Durrant entered junior high school, his family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah. They subsequently moved back East, to Louisville, Kentucky, where Durrant attended Seneca High School. Durrant was an active participant in numerous extracurricular programs in high school, competing on both the basketball and track teams and serving as the Student Council President in his senior year. Durrant attended Utah's Brigham Young University as an undergraduate student, where he met and married Jaclyn Huish. He put his education on a two-year hold between his freshman and sophomore years for a mission in Tokyo, Japan for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Upon returning from Japan, Durrant completed his undergraduate studies and graduated with a double major in American Studies and Japanese in 1981. He subsequently continued his schooling at Harvard Law School and earned his
Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...
degree in 1984."Judges' Biographies." ''Utah State Courts''. State of Utah, 25 February 2010. Found at http://www.utcourts.gov/judgesbios/showGallery.asp?dist=10&ct_type=S#2920 Durrant has taught as an adjunct professor at the Brigham Young University
J. Reuben Clark Law School The J. Reuben Clark Law School (BYU Law or JRCLS) is the graduate law school of Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. Founded in 1973, the school is named after J. Reuben Clark, a former U.S. Ambassador, Undersecretary of State, and g ...
, teaching constitutional issues regarding family law.


Judicial career

Following his graduation from Harvard University in 1984, Justice Durrant applied for a clerk position for Judge Monroe McKay of the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. He was accepted and spent the next year conducting legal research and assisting the judge in drafting opinions. Durrant then joined the private law firm Parr Brown Gee & Loveless, working as a civil litigator (
commercial law Commercial law, also known as mercantile law or trade law, is the body of law that applies to the rights, relations, and conduct of persons and business engaged in commerce, merchandising, trade, and sales. It is often considered to be a branc ...
). He became a
shareholder A shareholder (in the United States often referred to as stockholder) of a corporation is an individual or legal entity (such as another corporation, a body politic, a trust or partnership) that is registered by the corporation as the legal own ...
in the firm thereafter. In 1997, three years before taking a seat on the Utah Supreme Court's bench, Governor
Mike Leavitt Michael Okerlund Leavitt (born February 11, 1951) is an American politician who served as the List of Governors of Utah, 14th Governor of Utah from 1993 to 2003 in the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, as Administrator of the E ...
appointed Durrant to Utah's 3rd Judicial District bench. Governor Mike Leavitt later appointed Durrant to the Utah Supreme Court in January 2000. Justice Durrant has been serving as the Chief Justice since April 1, 2012. In response to urging from the Conference of Chief Justices' National Action Plan on Lawyer Conduct and Professionalism, the Utah Supreme Court created th
Utah Supreme Court's Advisory Committee on Professionalism
on October 1, 2001. Durrant was the founding Chair. The committee's "mission is to oversee the creation, evaluation, and maintenance of standards of conduct and professionalism for our legal community and to assist in the development of and implementation of effective enforcement mechanisms." To further this goal, the committee drafted th

which set forth guidelines for how Utah lawyers should behave inside the courtroom. Justice Durrant's personal philosophy is "treat people with dignity, even when they don't deserve it." He encourages aspiring lawyers to "look to the standards of professionalism and civility as a guide," and he maintains "extending courtesies…is not a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength." Durrant also chaired the committee that revised th

which established ethical standards for judges, and the Judicial Counsel's Technology committee, which studies technology issues and makes recommendations to the judicial counsel regarding technology and the court system. He also sat as the Utah Supreme Court representative for th
Utah Judicial Council
which investigates and reports on various matters pertaining to Utah courts.


Selected opinions

Justice Durrant wrote the majority opinions for each of the following cases. State v. Mauchley, 67 P.3d 477 (Utah 2003) On the night of January 5, 1995, Brent Mauchley allegedly fell into an open manhole and sustained several injuries. His story was undoubted, and Mauchley's insurance company settled with him on August 17, 1998. Approximately six months later, Mauchley confessed that his story was untrue – he had constructed the story upon seeing the uncovered manhole. He was charged with
insurance fraud Insurance fraud is any act committed to defraud an insurance process. It occurs when a claimant attempts to obtain some benefit or advantage they are not entitled to, or when an insurer knowingly denies some benefit that is due. According to the ...
and
theft by deception In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compensa ...
. Mauchley moved to dismiss the charges because, absent his confession, there was no independent evidence that a crime had actually occurred. The trial court denied the motion and Mauchley appealed. Mauchley appealed, citing the corpus delicti rule, which prohibits convicting a person based solely upon his or her confession. The Utah Court of Appeals reversed the denial of Mauchley's motion to dismiss. The Utah Supreme Court granted
certiorari In law, ''certiorari'' is a court process to seek judicial review of a decision of a lower court or government agency. ''Certiorari'' comes from the name of an English prerogative writ, issued by a superior court to direct that the record of ...
to examine the concept of corpus delicti. In a unanimous decision, the Court found that the corpus delicti rule was anachronistic and was not adequate in protecting an innocent person in the event of a false confession. In its place, the Court introduced the "trustworthiness standard," which takes into account the circumstances of the confession while deciding its usability in court. Ellis v. Estate of Ellis, 169 P.3d 441 (Utah 2007)''Ellis v. Estate of Ellis'', 169 P.3d 441 (Utah 2007) http://www.utcourts.gov/opinions/supopin/Ellis2092107.pdfKelson, Stephen D. "Ellis v. Estate of Ellis: The Unequivocal Death of Interspousal Immunity in Utah." Utah State Bar. Utah Bar Journal, 21 September 2010. Found at The newlyweds Steven and Aimee Ellis were driving in
Shelley, Idaho Shelley is a city in Bingham County, Idaho. The population was 4,409 at the 2010 census. The mascot for the city's high school is a Russet Burbank potato that wears a crown, robe and scepter. Since 1927 Shelley has been home to the "Idaho Annual ...
on January 2, 2001, when Steven Ellis lost control of his car. He swerved into oncoming traffic and crashed into a truck, killing himself instantly. Aimee Ellis sustained severe injuries (including significant head trauma) and was rushed to the hospital. In 2005, Mrs. Ellis filed a claim against her husband's estate for Mr. Ellis's negligence. The Third District Court dismissed her claim on the grounds of interspousal immunity, the principle under which "the husband and wife are one person in law: that is, the very being or legal existence of the woman is suspended during the marriage, or at least is incorporated and consolidated into that of the husband." Mrs. Ellis appealed to the Utah Supreme Court. Upon reviewing the case, the Court decided in a unanimous vote to overturn the district court's decision, holding that "the common-law doctrine of interspousal immunity has been abrogated in Utah with respect to all claims," thus laying to rest the doctrine of interspousal immunity in Utah. Burke v. Lewis, 122 P.3d 533, 535 (Utah 2005)''Burke v. Lewis'', 122 P.3d 533, 535 (Utah 2005) http://www.utcourts.gov/opinions/supopin/Burke071205.pdf Athan Montgomery sustained serious
brain damage Neurotrauma, brain damage or brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating t ...
at the time of his birth. The birth injury allegedly occurred as a result of attending physician Dr. Gregory Drezga's actions and substandard care during Athan's delivery. Heidi Judd, Montgomery's mother, filed a medical malpractice suit against Drezga, but Drezga had left Utah by the time the suit was filed. Drezga's malpractice insurer would normally have held been responsible for Drezga's legal defense, but they requested that they be removed from responsibility on the grounds that Drezga was not present in Utah to assist in his own defense. Judd, hoping to ensure that she would still be able to collect any judgment against Drezga, filed a motion requesting the district court to appoint legal counsel to represent Drezga's interests. The district court appointed attorney Paul C. Burke to represent Drezga. Burke appealed the appointment order, but it was dismissed. Burke then filed a Petition for Extraordinary Relief to the Utah Supreme Court because of "his inability to gain speedy review of the appointment order through normal appellate channels." The issue that the Utah Supreme Court was to decide was whether the district court acted outside of its discretion in appointing Burke to act in Drezga's defense absent an express statutory authorizing to do so. In a unanimous decision, the Court decided it was within the district court's discretion to appoint counsel in Drezga's absence, but because of the multitude of factors influencing the district court's decisions, the Supreme Court limited its decision to the unique facts in the case and declined to adopt a general rule that "appointment of counsel is generally an acceptable practice whenever an innocent third party may be subject to adverse repercussions if a judgment is entered against an absent civil litigant." State v. Levin, 144 P.3d 1096 (Utah 2006)''State v. Levin'', 144 P.3d 1096 (Utah 2006) http://www.utcourts.gov/opinions/supopin/Levin090806.pdf Ralph Levin was convicted in a Utah trial court for possession of
marijuana Cannabis, also known as marijuana among other names, is a psychoactive drug from the cannabis plant. Native to Central or South Asia, the cannabis plant has been used as a drug for both recreational and entheogenic purposes and in various tra ...
. He appealed the decision to the Utah Court of Appeals on the grounds that the trial court hadn't suppressed condemning statements he had made prior to being read his Miranda Rights. Levin claimed that the trial court had incorrectly concluded that he had not been subjected to
custodial interrogation {{Unreferenced, date=August 2016 In United States criminal law, a custodial interrogation (or, generally, custodial situation) is a situation in which the suspect's freedom of movement is restrained, even if they are not under arrest. History

P ...
(in which case, he would not have needed to be told his Miranda Rights). The Utah Court of Appeals upheld the trial court's decision. It concluded that while Levin had been subjected to interrogation, he was not in custody at the time of interrogation, thereby applying "a deferential 'abuse of discretion' standard of review to the trial court's determination that Levin was not 'in custody.'" Levin petitioned the Utah Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari, arguing that the Court of Appeals had inappropriately applied an abuse of discretion standard in its review of the trial court's decision. The Utah Supreme Court agreed to hear the appeal and, in a unanimous decision, determined the trial court erroneously applied the more deferential "abuse of discretion" standard in reviewing whether Levin should have been given his Miranda rights. The Court remanded the case to the Court of Appeals, holding that "custodial interrogation determinations should be reviewed for correctness." Conatser v. Johnson, 194 P.3d 897 (Utah 2008)''Conatser v. Johnson'', 194 P.3d 897 (Utah 2008) http://www.utcourts.gov/opinions/supopin/Conatser071808.pdfNehring, Ronald E. "Summary of Significant Utah Supreme Court Cases 2008–2009." ''Utah State Bar''. Utah Bar Journal, 24 September 2009. Found at In June 2000, the Conatser family was fishing in the Weber River when they unintentionally floated into the Johnsons' property. They touched the riverbed four separate times, after which the Johnsons requested that they take their boat from the private property. They were later cited and subsequently convicted for criminal trespass when they exited the boat downstream. On appeal, the Utah Supreme Court unanimously decided to reverse the conviction and held that the public's easement in state waters allows for the public to participate in lawful recreational activities on state waters. Justice Durrant's opinion noted that "the public has the right to touch privately owned beds of state waters in ways incidental to all recreational rights provided for in the easement, so long as they do so reasonably and cause no unnecessary injury to the landowner."


Personal life

Durrant is married to Jaclyn Huish. They have six children.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Durrant, Matthew B. 1957 births Living people 20th-century Mormon missionaries 21st-century American judges American Mormon missionaries in Japan Brigham Young University alumni Brigham Young University faculty Chief justices of the Utah Supreme Court Harvard Law School alumni Justices of the Utah Supreme Court Latter Day Saints from Arkansas Latter Day Saints from Kentucky Latter Day Saints from Utah Politicians from Salt Lake City Seneca High School (Louisville, Kentucky) alumni Utah lawyers