State Utah v. Duane M. Willett - Supreme Court Of Utah

State Utah v. Duane M. Willett

By Supreme Court Of Utah

  • Release Date: 1995-09-12
  • Genre: Law

Description

DURHAM, Justice: Defendant Duane Willett appeals his conviction for capital homicide, a violation of Utah Code Ann. § 76-5-202. Willett raises the following claims of error: (1) His state constitutional right to confront and cross-examine witnesses at the preliminary hearing was violated because only a ten-year-old partial transcript of the preliminary hearing was available for his review prior to trial; (2) his request to take certain pretrial depositions was improperly refused; and (3) his son, Harley Willett (""Harley""), was improperly allowed to assert his right against self-incrimination, thereby violating Willett's right to call witnesses in his own behalf and to cross-examine witnesses. Willett raises other claims which we address only briefly as we find them to be without merit. His additional claims consist of the following: (1) The trial court improperly admitted an eyewitness identification of defendant, expert testimony concerning wire cutters, and testimony of Dan Boehmer; (2) Willett was denied his right to a speedy trial; (3) Willett's conviction should be reversed due to cumulative error; and (4) the Utah capital homicide statute is unconstitutional as applied to the facts of this case. We affirm.

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