Affirmative Defenses Must be Disproved Beyond a Reasonable Doubt

State v. Sellers 2011 UT App 38 (Utah Court of Appeals, February 3, 2011).

Sellers was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child.  Sellers claimed that his voluntary intoxication inhibited his complete ability to form the necessary intent to commit the crime.  The voluntary intoxication instruction that was given to the jury failed to instruct the jury that the State had burden of disproving the affirmative defense.

The Court of Appeals found that Sellers’s attorney’s failure to object and failure to propose a proper instruction was ineffective assistance of counsel, because there was no strategic reason for omitting the burden of proof.  Because the deficient performance, and the deficiency of the instruction the Court of Appeals Reversed the conviction and Remanded the case for a new trial. 

Note—The Court also commented on a two lines of questioning put forth by the State: 1) Questions to a detective on the case regarding the drunkenness of Defendant. The Court of Appeals stated that because the detective’s testimony was not based on personal observation of the drunkenness, his testimony was inappropriate lay testimony.  2) Questions to the same detective as to the truthfulness of the testimony of the child victim.  The Court of Appeals found this testimony to improperly bolster the testimony and that both lines of questioning should be avoided in the new trial.

Full Decision available at  http://www.utcourts.gov/opinions/appopin/sellers020311.pdf