Utah Court of Appeals hears arguments in State v. Omar Cortez over juror bias and defense strategy

The Utah Court of Appeals heard oral argument in case number 20220352, State v. Omar Cortez, in a live‑streamed proceeding where the appellant asked for a new trial on ineffective‑assistance grounds and for a remand under Rule 23(b) to examine alleged juror bias.

Appellant counsel Heather Ellison told the three‑judge panel that “Omar should be granted a new trial because he received ineffective assistance of counsel in 3 ways,” pressing two principal claims at argument: that trial counsel failed to investigate potential bias by juror 6 and juror 7, and that counsel declined to preserve a challenge under the Utah Constitution’s uniform operation of laws that could have supported an imperfect‑self‑defense instruction.

The panel — Judge Ryan Harris (presiding), Judge Michelle Christiansen Forster and Judge Ryan Tenney — questioned both sides about what specific follow‑up voir dire questions counsel should have asked and whether the record supported a finding of actual bias. The state, through Assistant Attorney Jonathan Bauer, argued counsel’s choice to…