State v. Ray

Opinion

ORME, Judge:

¶ 1 Erie Matthew Ray, then twenty-eight years old, engaged in a wholly inappropriate relationship with a fifteen-year-old girl (Victim). Growing out of that relationship, Ray was charged with several sexual offenses and, after a jury trial, was found guilty of forcible sexual abuse, a second degree felony. See Utah Code Ann. § 76-5-404(2)(a) (Lexis-Nexis 2012). He was acquitted of a charge of object rape, and the jury could not reach a verdict on two counts of forcible sodomy. Because trial counsel provided Ray ineffective assistance by failing to request a jury instruction…