State of Utah, Plaintiff and Appellee v. Robert W. Dunn, Defendant and Appellant

Summary

The court set aside Dunn's second-degree murder conviction because the jury instruction improperly allowed conviction based on recklessness, an error that was plain and prejudicial. Rather than order a new trial, the court directed entry of judgment for reckless manslaughter, concluding that the jury necessarily found the manslaughter elements and that neither party was unfairly prejudiced. The court affirmed the aggravated-kidnapping conviction and rejected Dunn's challenges to the evidence, search, prior-conviction impeachment, photograph, prosecutorial comments, ineffective assistance, and cumulative error. Justice Stewart, concurring in part and dissenting in part, would have ordered a new trial because the majority's manslaughter judgment violated Dunn's jury-trial right.