The Appellate Group

State v. Fitzwater

State v. Fitzwater, 2026 UT App 10 (Tenney, J.)

Criminal

The Utah Court of Appeals held:

  • Because a jury does not need to be unanimous about method of a specific crime, a jury is not required to be unanimous as to whether a defendant is guilty as a principle or an accomplice.
  • Practice tip: When trial counsel acts below in a manner that invites an error, the defendant cannot later raise a plain error claim related to her trial counsel’s action on appeal, though other exceptions to the preservation rules might still apply.

Read the full court opinion