State v. Leber

PARRISH, Justice:

INTRODUCTION

¶ 1 Petitioner Kenneth Leber was convicted by a jury of second degree felony child abuse pursuant to Utah Code section 76-5-109(2)(a). Leber appealed his conviction and sought a new trial based in part on a theory that the trial court abused its discretion by admitting evidence of Leber’s prior bad acts under rule 404(a) of the Utah Rules of Evidence. The court of appeals found that the trial court did not abuse its discretion and therefore upheld the jury verdict.

¶ 2 We initially granted certiorari to determine whether the court of appeals erred in declining to…