State v. Solstad — Speculative fear did not establish compulsion defense
The Utah Court of Appeals affirmed negligent homicide, holding that speculative fear of a pursuing driver did not require acceptance of a compulsion defense.
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Appellate Procedure
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State v. Hassan — Court affirms child-sex-abuse convictions
The Utah Court of Appeals rejected four ineffective-assistance claims and held that body-camera footage of a victim’s post-disclosure demeanor was properly admitted.
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Dahl v. Dahl — Court orders new review of marital trust assets
The Utah Court of Appeals upheld the divorce-date valuation of trust assets but vacated their distribution because the trial court did not resolve tracing and dissipation issues.
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State v. Garza — Court affirms aggravated-murder conviction against trial challenges
The Utah Court of Appeals affirmed an aggravated-murder conviction, rejecting challenges to voir dire, graphic evidence, intent testimony, jury instructions, and trial counsel’s performance.
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State v. Connelley — Court vacates credit-card convictions and orders PSI review
The Utah Court of Appeals vacated three credit-card convictions under merger doctrine and required an on-record resolution of presentence-report objections, while affirming consecutive sentences.
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Watson v. Prestwich — Court upholds custody transfer and vexatious-litigant restrictions
The Utah Court of Appeals upheld sole custody, supervised parent-time, and vexatious-litigant restrictions after repeated defiance of court orders.
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Taylor v. Lawlor — Single spacing cannot justify dismissal without prejudice finding
The Utah Court of Appeals reversed dismissal after a trial court rejected opposition briefs for single spacing without explaining the defect.
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State v. Hall — Court rejects unanimity claim but warns against unbalanced Allen charge
The Utah Court of Appeals affirmed child-sex-abuse convictions while a concurrence criticized an unbalanced verdict-urging instruction.
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State v. Marx — Court rejects Brady and ineffective-assistance challenges
The Utah Court of Appeals affirmed child-sex-abuse and witness-tampering convictions, finding no material Brady violation or prejudicial attorney error.
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State v. Vance — Retaining stolen property is a continuing offense
The Utah Court of Appeals held that retaining stolen property can continue until possession ends, making the prosecution of a stolen skid steer timely.
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Christensen v. Christensen — District Court Must Hold Hearing and Apply Independent Review to Commissioner’s Child Support Recommendation
The Utah Court of Appeals affirmed a post-decree minivan enforcement order because ordering payment of lost equity fell within the four corners of the divorce decree, but reversed a child support arrearage ruling because the district court refused to hold an evidentiary hearing mandated by Utah R. Civ. P. 108(d)(2) and applied abuse-of-discretion review instead of the independent assessment required by rule 108(f).
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Canteros-Alvarez v. Green — Conditional Text Threat Does Not Establish Imminent Physical Harm Under Utah’s Cohabitant Abuse Act
The Utah Court of Appeals vacated a protective order against a sister whose angry text—expressing a conditional desire to fight—did not place the petitioner in reasonable fear of imminent physical harm under the Cohabitant Abuse Act, because the threatened violence was contingent on a future event, the parties were physically distant, and there was no history of violence between them.
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State v. Perez — Jurors’ Brief Hands in Voir Dire Did Not Compel For-Cause Removal; Ineffective Assistance Claim Fails
The Utah Court of Appeals affirmed convictions for aggravated burglary and related charges, holding that trial counsel was not ineffective in declining to challenge for cause three jurors who raised their hands to leading voir dire questions and then affirmed their ability to follow jury instructions in response to the prosecutor’s follow-up.