State v. Bender

HALL, Justice:

Defendant Chris Dean Bender appeals from a jury trial conviction of theft of a coat, a felony of the third degree, in violation of the provisions of U.C.A., 1953, 76-6-403. He asserts the trial court committed reversible error by refusing to instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of attempted theft and the concept of reasonable alternative hypothesis. He further maintains that the evidence at trial was insufficient to support the verdict.

A clerk in the Chalk Garden, a clothing store, observed Bender in one of the store’s dressing rooms putting the coat in question in a…