Criminal Procedure – Criminal Law Wire

State v. Talbert — Utah Court of Appeals Rejects Variance, Rule 404(b), and Ineffective-Assistance Challenges to Sexual Abuse Convictions

/ June 27, 2026

The Utah Court of Appeals affirmed six sexual-abuse convictions, holding that uncharged grooming conduct is admissible as intrinsic evidence outside Rule 404(b), that a charging variance between the information and the acts proven at trial raises sufficiency and notice issues—not jurisdictional ones—and that failure to seek a trial continuance upon discovering the variance waives procedural-due-process claims.

State v. Kent — Utah Court of Appeals Affirms Enticement Conviction Despite Undercover Officer’s Adult Photos and Voice

The Utah Court of Appeals affirmed a child enticement conviction, holding that the sufficiency-of-evidence inquiry is subjective—asking whether this defendant believed the persona was a minor—and that entrapment as a matter of law requires more than a realistic undercover persona; here, the defendant’s own texts and statements showed actual knowledge of the victim’s age and independent criminal initiative.