Salt Lake City v. Grotepas

874 P.2d 136, 238 Utah Adv. Rep. 13, 1994 Utah App. LEXIS 64, 1994 WL 160680
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedApril 29, 1994
Docket930311-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 874 P.2d 136 (Salt Lake City v. Grotepas) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Utah primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Salt Lake City v. Grotepas, 874 P.2d 136, 238 Utah Adv. Rep. 13, 1994 Utah App. LEXIS 64, 1994 WL 160680 (Utah Ct. App. 1994).

Opinions

OPINION

GREENWOOD, Judge:

Defendant, Calvin Heber Grotepas, appeals from his conviction of criminal trespass in violation of Salt Lake City Code § 11.36.-130 (1990). Defendant contends that the conviction entered by the trial court was the result of ineffective assistance of counsel. Because we conclude that trial counsel’s performance was objectively deficient and that there is a reasonable probability the outcome might have been more favorable to defendant absent the deficient performance, we reverse and remand for a new trial.1

BACKGROUND

In early 1993, defendant was enrolled as a student at the Salt Lake Art Center School (Art Center School). On March 23, 1993, Mr. Gatmeyer, director of the Salt Lake Art Center (Center), informed defendant that he would no longer be accepted as a student. Defendant apparently was dismissed because he would not adhere to certain rules of the Art Center School. Defendant told Mr. Gat-meyer that he could not be kept from participating and refused to accept a refund of his tuition. Again on March 24, 1993, Mr. Gat-meyer told defendant he could neither attend classes nor enter the Art Center School.

On April 1, 1993, Mr. Gatmeyer observed defendant approaching the Art Center School. Mr. Gatmeyer and three police officers met defendant just outside the building. Defendant indicated that it was his intention to enter the school. At that point, the police officers informed defendant that if he insisted on entering he would be arrested for trespass. In response, defendant stated that he wanted to be arrested and then entered the building. The police officers arrested defendant and cited him for trespass, for which he was later convicted after a bench trial.

The essence of defense counsel’s argument at trial was that because the Center is a government-owned and supported building and defendant had paid tuition to attend class at the Art Center School, defendant could not be found to have criminally trespassed. Counsel also attempted to establish some sort of prejudice against defendant by Art Center School officials. The trial record reveals that defense counsel neither raised the statutory defense to criminal trespass found at Utah Code Ann. § 76-6-206(4) (1990)2 nor introduced any evidence to estab[138]*138lish that defendant met the requirements of the statutory defense. Defendant was convicted of criminal trespass, fined fifty dollars, and placed on probation for six months. On appeal, defendant claims he was denied the effective assistance of counsel because his counsel failed to assert the statutory defense.

ANALYSIS

In Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 104 S.Ct. 2052, 80 L.Ed.2d 674 (1984), the United States Supreme Court established a two-prong test for evaluating ineffective assistance of counsel claims brought under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Id. at 687, 104 S.Ct. at 2064; accord State v. Templin, 805 P.2d 182, 186 (Utah 1990); State v. Snyder, 860 P.2d 351, 354 (Utah App.1993). To establish an ineffective assistance of counsel claim, defendant must show, first, that counsel rendered a deficient performance that fell below an objective standard of reasonable professional judgment, and second, that counsel’s deficient performance prejudiced the defendant. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687, 104 S.Ct. at 2064; accord Templin, 805 P.2d at 186; Snyder, 860 P.2d at 354. In making a showing that counsel rendered a deficient performance, the burden is on defendant to demonstrate that counsel’s representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 687-88, 104 S.Ct. at 2064; accord Templin, 805 P.2d at 186; Snyder, 860 P.2d at 354. To establish that counsel’s alleged deficiency was sufficiently prejudicial, defendant must affirmatively demonstrate that there is a “reasonable probability” that, but for counsel’s errors, the result would have been different. Strickland, 466 U.S. at 694, 104 S.Ct. at 2068; accord Templin, 805 P.2d at 186-87.

“Ordinarily, such a claim [of ineffective assistance of counsel] may only be raised through a collateral attack in habeas corpus proceedings because ‘the trial record is insufficient to allow the claim to be determined’ on direct appeal.” State v. Garrett, 849 P.2d 578, 580 (Utah App.) (quoting State v. Humphries, 818 P.2d 1027, 1029 (Utah 1991)), cert. denied, 860 P.2d 943 (Utah 1993). However, if the ineffective assistance of counsel claim is first raised on direct appeal and defendant’s appellate counsel was not also trial counsel, as in the case before us, we may consider the issue “only if the record is adequate to permit a decision.” Id. If we address the claim based on the record “we must decide whether defendant was deprived of the effective assistance of counsel as a matter of law.” State v. Tennyson, 850 P.2d 461, 466 (Utah App.1993). Nonetheless, our review of trial “counsel’s performance must be highly deferential; otherwise, the ‘distorting effects of hindsight’” would lead us to engage in second-guessing. Id.

Defendant’s Claim

Defendant asserts that he received ineffective assistance of counsel because his counsel failed to inform the trial court of or raise in any way the statutory defense to criminal trespass contained in Utah Code Ann. § 76-6-206(4) (1990). That section states in relevant part that it is a defense to criminal trespass if “(a) property was open to the public when the actor entered or remained; and (b) the actor’s conduct did not substantially interfere with the owner’s use of the property.” Id.

In State v. Moritzsky, 771 P.2d 688 (Utah App.1989), the defendant made a similar claim that his trial counsel had failed to cite to possibly exculpatory statutory provisions. The defendant appealed after a jury convicted him of aggravated assault, claiming that his trial counsel’s failure to request a “defense of habitation” jury instruction according to the amended statute constituted ineffective assistance of counsel. The court observed that trial counsel’s action could not be attributed to conceivable trial tactics, but instead was the result of an oversight of [139]*139statutory language, as counsel evidently cited an earlier version of the statute and missed the amendment contained in the Code’s “pocket-part.” Id. at 692. Therefore, the court held Moritzsky had established the first prong of the Strickland test as counsel’s performance was objectively deficient.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

State v. Levering
2020 UT App 82 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 2020)
State v. Litherland
2000 UT 76 (Utah Supreme Court, 2000)
State v. Vessey
967 P.2d 960 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 1998)
Salt Lake City v. Grotepas
906 P.2d 890 (Utah Supreme Court, 1995)
State v. Strain
885 P.2d 810 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 1994)
State v. Cook
881 P.2d 913 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 1994)
Salt Lake City v. Grotepas
874 P.2d 136 (Court of Appeals of Utah, 1994)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
874 P.2d 136, 238 Utah Adv. Rep. 13, 1994 Utah App. LEXIS 64, 1994 WL 160680, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/salt-lake-city-v-grotepas-utahctapp-1994.