Utah Court of Appeals hears challenge to admission of prior convictions in Hunt murder trial; court takes case under advisement

Cedar City — The Utah Court of Appeals heard oral argument in Hunt’s appeal over whether defense counsel’s use of the defendant’s prior convictions and prison conduct at trial deprived him of a fair trial, and took the case under advisement for a written decision.

Andrew Fitzgerald, counsel for the appellant, told the three-judge panel that he "had a moment of shock" when he read the record and saw prior bad-act evidence and testimony about the defendant’s decade in the penitentiary come before the jury. Fitzgerald said the defense’s tactic — calling witnesses who testified about the appellant’s good conduct in prison and allowing evidence of prior convictions — "put him in such a poor light that his defense failed right out of the gates," and argued the cumulative effect was so harmful that "it can't be anything but ineffective assistance of counsel."…