A.P.E.X. Events: Utah Court of Appeals

Published: October 02, 2018 | Read Time: 2 minutes

On Thursday, October 18 at 11:30 a.m., Southern Utah University and A.P.E.X. Events will host a live Court of Appeals session in the Great Hall in the Hunter Conference Center. Cases to be presented will be State v. Wright and State v. Hunt, and the judges presiding will be Gregory K. Orme, Mary Kate A. Toomey, and Ryan M. Harris. This event will be free and open to the public. Because of extra security precautions, please plan on arriving early to the event. No lighters, firearms or weapons of any kind permitted, including legal carry. Please visit: suu.edu/sutvlive for a live-stream of the event and suu.edu/apex for more event info.

State v. Wright

Defendant Blake Wright was charged with aggravated kidnapping, attempted murder, and a number of other crimes. On appeal, his primary contention is that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance to him, in violation of his Sixth Amendment rights. To prevail on such a claim, he must demonstrate both objectively deficient performance by his trial counsel and that the deficient performance prejudiced him.

State v. Hunt

Marvin Hunt owned livestock that grazed the open range, and so did his neighbor, and sometimes their livestock would interact.  Hunt became upset with one of the neighbor's stallions, named Confetti Magic that had apparently been impregnating Hunt's mares.   Hunt also viewed Confetti Magic as a particularly aggressive stallion, and on one occasion Hunt claimed that the stallion charged him in a threatening manner.  At that point, Hunt stated that he had "had it," and proceeded to capture Confetti Magic and another stallion in a corral and castrate them. The State asks us to affirm Hunt's conviction.

Judge Gregory K. Orme was appointed to the Utah Court of Appeals by Gov. Norman H. Bangerter in January 1987, when the court was first established. He has served on the court for over thirty years and is the court's Presiding Judge. Judge Kate A. Toomey took the oath of office in September 2014 after her appointment to the Court of Appeals by Gov. Gary Herbert. Prior to her appointment, she was a Third District Court Judge for nearly eight years. Judge Ryan M. Harris was appointed to the Utah Court of Appeals in June 2017 by Governor Gary R. Herbert. Prior to his appointment, Judge Harris served as a trial judge in the Third District Court for nearly six years, where he served as the Associate Presiding Judge.

“A.P.E.X. Events always strives to keep our audience, students, community members, and faculty members current and engaged. We are proud to continue the tradition of a Live Appeals Court Session on campus! We invite you to come and watch our justice system in action!”

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Tags: APEX

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