State v. James
State v. James, 2025 UT 53 (Pearce, A.C.J.)
Criminal
The Utah Supreme Court held:
- The court of appeals erred in adopting the Tenth Circuit’s approach to conclude that Defendant demonstrated that he was prejudiced (under a plain error analysis) because the district court did not invite him to allocute at sentencing.
- Practice tip: The court declined to adopt the Tenth Circuit’s holding that defendants may shoulder their burden of demonstrating prejudice by showing that the district court failed to allow them an opportunity to allocute.
- Two justices dissented, also rejecting the adoption of the Tenth Circuit’s rule, but stating they would not require a showing of prejudice based on the likelihood of a different outcome. They suggested amending Utah Rule of Criminal Procedure 22 to allow for prompt correction of an allocution error and welcomed recommendations from the Advisory Committee on a potential rule amendment.