The Appellate Group

Civil Stalking Injunction

State v. Wilkes

State v. Wilkes, 2020 UT App 175 (Christiansen Forster, J.)

Criminal Law

On appeal, Defendant argued that after he pleaded guilty to sexual offenses, his counsel provided ineffective assistance in failing to object to the sentencing court’s consideration of a psychosexual evaluation from a previous sexual offense. The Utah Court of Appeals affirmed his sentence, holding:

  • Because the psychosexual evaluation could have helped Defendant by serving as a starting point or benchmark to support counsel’s argument that Defendant had made significant progress, counsel had “a sound strategic reason” for not objecting. Moreover, as the information was “reliable and relevant,” any objection would have been futile.