The first test of Utah County’s evidence against Reckless Ben is now set for December 16, nearly nine months after it charged him.
The court sent the notice on October 5. The preliminary hearing was to have been September 30; the day before, the county told Judge Thomas Low “The State was unable to subpoena a witness,” and the docket shows the postponement granted the same day. The new date is 77 days later. Nothing on the docket held here lifts the stay-away condition of March 10 or the protective order of May 20.
PRIMARY SOURCEState of Utah v. Benjamin Paul Schneider, Fourth Judicial District Court, Utah County, No. 261401094: “Notice of In Person Preliminary Hearing,” dated October 5, 2026.
CONFIRMEDthe new setting: Wednesday, December 16, 2026, 10:30 a.m. MST, in person, Courtroom 5A in Provo, before Judge Thomas Low; the docket entry of September 29 for the order granting the postponement; the Information, sworn March 27; the orders of March 10 and May 20.
UNRESOLVEDwhich witness the State could not subpoena, whether it has reached that witness since, and what resolution the two sides are discussing.
The notice
The hearing is in person, in the Provo courthouse, before the same judge. The notice went to the two defense lawyers and to Christine Scott, the deputy county attorney who signed the motion of September 29.
Utah County charged him on March 27. Its evidence is first due in a courtroom on December 16.
Since March
The two orders
The notice sets a date and says nothing about the orders already in the case. Nothing on the docket held here lifts either one. The March 10 order makes it a condition of his release that he stay 1,000 feet from the alleged victim and from that person’s “residence, place of worship, employer, and school.” The May 20 order states that “the defendant represents a credible threat to the physical safety of the protected person” and that it “is in effect until further order of the court, trial, or other resolution of the case.” Violating it while the charge is pending is itself a Class A misdemeanor (the orders, reported September 23). Until the hearing is held, the State’s evidence has not been tested in court.
The protected person named in the May 20 order is Joshua Johnson, a plaintiff with BAM Franchising and both McNeffs in the federal racketeering case against Reckless Ben (reported September 26).
The fair reading, and its limit. Continuances are ordinary in criminal cases, and the State’s motion calls this one stipulated. A notice of hearing says nothing about the strength of either side’s case, and talk of a resolution binds neither side. The limit is the calendar: the State’s own sentence of September 29, and a first hearing 264 days after the charge. The right of reply is open to the Utah County Attorney, to the defense, and to Mr. Johnson.
The record
The court’s filings in case 261401094.
- Order to hold with bail, March 10, 2026
- Affidavit of probable cause, March 10
- Affidavit of probable cause, March 11
- Information, March 27
- Pretrial protective order, May 20
- Defense request for discovery, June 18
- Order moving the waiver hearing to August 12, June 26
- Stipulated motion to continue the preliminary hearing, September 29
- The court’s case history, printed October 3, with the entry for the order of September 29
- Notice of in-person preliminary hearing, October 5
This site’s reporting on the case.
- September 29: the county could not subpoena a witness
- September 23: the subpoena, the charges, and what the hearing decides, with every earlier piece on the American Fork case listed there
- September 14: Provo dropped its separate case the day before its hearing
- The bodycam, camera by camera
Sources. Fourth Judicial District Court, Utah County, State of Utah v. Benjamin Paul Schneider, No. 261401094: the notice of in-person preliminary hearing dated October 5, 2026, quoted verbatim; the court’s case history as printed October 3, 2026, for the entry of the September 29 order and the dates of the earlier settings; the stipulated motion of September 29, 2026, signed by the deputy county attorney; and the earlier filings in the case. The copy of the notice served here has the three lawyers’ email addresses blacked out. The charges are accusations. Benjamin Schneider is presumed innocent, and everyone named here is presumed to have acted lawfully.