Utah Court of Appeals hears challenge to admission of codefendant’s confession in State v. Farmer

The Utah Court of Appeals heard argument on whether written and oral statements attributed to codefendant Danny Villegas should have been admitted under Utah Rule of Evidence 804(b)(3) and whether any error deprived appellant Theron Farmer of a fair trial.

Appellant’s counsel, Jessica Heidholzer, told the court that Farmer “did not receive a fair trial because Theron's codefendants, Danny's confessions, should have been admitted under rule 8 0 4 b 3 as statements against interest.” She argued the confessions provided corroborating circumstances—such as that Eric was shot while Farmer was in the bathroom, accounts that a person stepped toward a hallway and then retreated into a bedroom, and a contemporaneous 911 call—that should have been presented to a jury rather than excluded as unreliable.

Heidholzer asked the panel to review the trial court’s ruling under a correctness standard, saying the “ultimate issue is a legal issue” of whether corroborating circumstances exist to permit admission. She repeatedly told the court that the recantation…