Utah Court of Appeals hears challenge to jury unanimity instruction and admission of letter in State v. Jimenez (No. 20220662)

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Court of Appeals heard argument in State v. Jimenez (No. 20220662) on questions about whether trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to secure a jury unanimity instruction and whether a one‑and‑a‑half page letter admitted at trial under an evidentiary exception was properly admitted.

At oral argument, Melissa Jo Townsend, attorney for defendant Edwe (Edwie) Jimenez, told the three‑judge panel that “Edwe needs a new trial for the 5 reasons we briefed and had in our rule 23 motion,” and focused her argument on two numbered claims: a jury unanimity error tied to alleged multiplicity of factual allegations and the admission of a letter and email under Utah Rule of Evidence 801(d)(1)(B) (the prior‑consistent/rehabilitative exception as discussed in State v. Wuhan and related authority).

Townsend argued that the underlying trial presented three distinguishable factual allegations that could each have supported the single count of aggravated sexual abuse of a child, and that neither a prosecution link to a single asserted act nor a special verdict form constrained…