The Appellate Group

State v. Durfee

State v. Durfee, 2026 UT App 42 (Harris, J.)

Criminal Law

The Utah Court of Appeals held:

(1) Counsel was not ineffective for not objecting to part of an expert witness’s testimony. It was appropriate to address the testimony during cross- examination.
(2) The district court did not exceed its discretion by allowing the State to ask Ex-Girlfriend, on cross-examination, about the specific instance of Defendant’s conduct where he refused to leave her house because it was relevant to assessing the credibility and weight of Ex-Girlfriend’s proffered testimony.

Practice tip:

In the rule 405(a) context, it is only on cross-examination of the reputation or opinion witness that specific instances of the defendant’s conduct may be inquired about, and the cross-examiner may not present extrinsic evidence of specific instances of the defendant’s conduct.

Read the full court opinion