Criminal

Utah Criminal Ineffective Assistance of Counsel Post-Conviction Relief

Court of Appeals of Utah

Uncategorized

Miranda v. State — Post-Conviction Court Erroneously Presumed Prejudice From Unanimity Instruction Failure; Convictions Reinstated

/ June 11, 2026

The Utah Court of Appeals reversed a grant of post-conviction relief, holding that the post-conviction court improperly applied the Chadwick presumption of prejudice to an ineffective-assistance claim; under Strickland, Miranda failed to show a reasonable probability that a proper unanimity instruction would have changed the verdict.

Utah Criminal Evidence Ineffective Assistance of Counsel

Court of Appeals of Utah

Uncategorized

State v. Collard — Convictions Reversed After Counsel Failed to Redact Domestic-Violence Finding from Protective Order Exhibit

/ June 4, 2026

The Utah Court of Appeals affirmed denial of a motion to arrest judgment on protective-order-violation convictions — holding that the State sufficiently proved the permanent order’s terms through testimony and a docket entry — but reversed all three convictions on ineffective-assistance grounds because defense counsel failed to seek redaction of a domestic-violence finding in the temporary protective order admitted as a trial exhibit, a finding the court had already ruled irrelevant and whose admission undermined confidence in the verdict.