State v. Lynch

2011 UT App 1, 246 P.3d 525, 673 Utah Adv. Rep. 5, 2011 Utah App. LEXIS 2, 2011 WL 31738
CourtCourt of Appeals of Utah
DecidedJanuary 6, 2011
Docket20090628-CA
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 2011 UT App 1 (State v. Lynch) 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
State v. Lynch, 2011 UT App 1, 246 P.3d 525, 673 Utah Adv. Rep. 5, 2011 Utah App. LEXIS 2, 2011 WL 31738 (Utah Ct. App. 2011).

Opinion

246 P.3d 525 (2011)
2011 UT App 1

STATE of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee,
v.
Sherman Alexander LYNCH, Defendant and Appellant.

No. 20090628-CA.

Court of Appeals of Utah.

January 6, 2011.

Linda M. Jones and Patrick W. Corum, Salt Lake City, for Appellant.

Mark L. Shurtleff and Ryan D. Tenney, Salt Lake City, for Appellee.

Before Judges DAVIS, THORNE, and ROTH.

OPINION

DAVIS, Presiding Judge:

¶ 1 Defendant Sherman Alexander Lynch appeals his convictions of murder, a first degree felony, see Utah Code Ann. § 76-5-203 (Supp.2010), and obstruction of justice, a second degree felony, see id. § 76-8-306, in connection with the death of his wife, Patricia Rothermich. We affirm.

*526 BACKGROUND

¶ 2 On October 3, 2007, Patricia was hit by a vehicle while she was on a walk near her home in Holladay, Utah. Shortly afterward, a passerby noticed her legs sticking out from some bushes and called emergency services, which dispatched paramedics at 3:18 p.m. to respond to the scene. Once there, paramedics noted that Patricia had severe head trauma, had a severe injury to her left calf, and was "barely sustaining life." Patricia went into cardiac arrest en route to the hospital and, despite paramedics' efforts to revive her, was pronounced dead on arrival.

¶ 3 An officer from the Salt Lake County Sheriff's Office responded to the scene of the incident and conducted the initial investigation. Based on the evidence at the scene, he concluded that Patricia had been struck from behind while walking against traffic. He also determined that based on the height and location of Patricia's injuries, the vehicle that had hit her had a high front end, such as a "truck or a van." The officer also noted that Patricia had some white paint on the back of her pants that appeared to have been transferred when she was struck by the vehicle. Finally, the officer found three broken zip ties in the roadway, which had fallen in a "consecutive" order that was "in line with the collision path." This evidence suggested to the officer that the zip ties "may have come off of a vehicle that was involved in this collision."

¶ 4 While the investigation at the scene continued, another officer went to Defendant's home. Defendant was not there when the officer arrived but came home shortly thereafter. According to the officer, Defendant appeared "nervous" and "a little distraught." After speaking with Defendant, the officer offered to take Defendant to the hospital.

¶ 5 Defendant's neighbor, Don Carter, had been notified of the incident and went to the hospital to meet Defendant. Carter later testified that Defendant's behavior at the hospital was "way over the top." Carter also testified that shortly after he arrived at the hospital, Defendant hugged him and "started to say, `What have I,' then immediately corrected and said, `What am I going to do?'" Carter further testified that although it did not mean much to him at the time, the statement definitely "caught [his] ear."

¶ 6 In the days following the incident, Defendant spoke to local television reporters and made pleas to the public for help in finding the person who had hit and killed his wife. Nancy Scott, Defendant's girlfriend, saw Defendant on television talking about Patricia. Scott was "devastated" because she did not know Defendant was married. When Scott later called Defendant to inquire about his comments to the media, he told her that Patricia was actually his live-in landlord and that he referred to her as his wife on television to protect her image because they were living in the same household together.

¶ 7 After learning that police were looking for a white truck in connection with the hit-and-run, Scott contacted the police. Scott informed the police that she and Defendant had a relationship and that Defendant had purchased a white truck at the end of August. Scott also took the police to a storage garage in Holladay where Defendant had kept the truck. Although the truck was not there, officers found pieces of carpet with white spray paint on them. Officers also spoke with the owner of the garage, who confirmed that Defendant had kept the truck there during September and that Defendant had spray painted over some rust spots on the truck with white spray paint. The owner of the garage also told officers that during the last week of September he had asked Defendant to move the truck out of the garage.

¶ 8 A few days later, a different man called the police to report that in late September he had seen a white truck parked inside a garage near an abandoned home that he was renting for storage. When officers later went to the abandoned garage, they located the white truck. The vehicle identification number on the truck matched that of the truck that Defendant had purchased in August, and there was other evidence inside the truck showing that Defendant was, indeed, the owner of the vehicle. The officers also noted that the truck had evidence linking it to Patricia's death. First, the location and *527 type of damage on the truck was consistent with Patricia's injuries. Second, officers found a fragment of a zip tie in the engine compartment and noticed that the hood did not close properly, suggesting that the zip tie had been used to secure it. Finally, officers noticed that rust spots on the truck had been covered up with white spray paint.[1]

¶ 9 On October 8, 2007, Defendant was interviewed by police. During the interview, police asked Defendant whether he owned vehicles. Defendant admitted to owning a van but denied owning "any other vehicles" or making "recent purchases or sales of vehicles." Police then told Defendant that they were aware of the garage he had rented. Although Defendant first denied keeping any vehicles in the garage, he later admitted to buying a truck, which he claimed was for his teenaged son. When police inquired as to the truck's whereabouts, Defendant told them that the truck had broken down on the freeway and that Defendant had given the truck to a man who stopped to help him. After police told Defendant that they had the truck in their possession, Defendant was arrested for Patricia's murder. On October 10, 2007, Defendant was charged with one count of murder and one count of obstruction of justice in connection with Patricia's death.

¶ 10 At trial, Defendant presented an alibi defense. Specifically, he claimed that he had been at Costco in Murray buying milk and gas at the time Patricia was hit. In support of this claim, Defendant produced receipts showing that he was at Costco on October 3, 2007. The date stamps on the receipts and surveillance video from the store showed that Defendant had purchased gasoline at 3:44 p.m. and milk at 3:55 p.m. The State did not dispute that Defendant had made the Costco trip. Rather, the State presented evidence that Defendant had ample time to hit Patricia, drive the white truck to the abandoned garage, and then make it to Costco in time to make his purchases at 3:44 p.m. and 3:55 p.m.

¶ 11 During the trial, the jury received several instructions regarding burdens of proof in the case. Of the preliminary instructions given, Instructions 13 and 15 specifically instructed the jury that "[t]he prosecution has the burden of proof" and that "[t]he prosecution has the burden of proving [Defendant] was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt." The closing jury instructions similarly instructed the jury.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
2011 UT App 1, 246 P.3d 525, 673 Utah Adv. Rep. 5, 2011 Utah App. LEXIS 2, 2011 WL 31738, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-lynch-utahctapp-2011.