Appeals court hears challenge to Mansia conviction over jury unanimity and counsel performance

The Utah Court of Appeals heard argument in State v. Mansia, where appellate counsel for Jose Mansia argued trial counsel was ineffective for failing to request a specific unanimity instruction that, he said, left an unreasonable risk of a non‑unanimous verdict in the felony discharge‑of‑a‑firearm charge.

Eric, counsel for appellant Jose Mansia, told the court that the jury was given a general unanimity instruction while the elements instruction presented four alternative ways to convict; he said that allowed a reasonable probability that jurors convicted based on different acts. "There's a reasonable probability that the jurors did not unassely agree upon which alleged act Messia committed," Eric argued, pressing that the omission was prejudicial given the party‑liability theory used at trial.

The panel pressed the counsel on practical…