Fenstermaker v. State, 2026 UT 12

Fenstermaker shot and killed Randy Lewis after an evening of drinking, marijuana use, and escalating conflict at Andrea’s home. 1
At trial, Fenstermaker claimed self-defense, but the district court instructed that self-defense was unavailable if he was committing a felony. 2
The jury convicted Fenstermaker of murder and felony firearm possession but acquitted him of aggravated assault. 3
On direct appeal, counsel challenged the self-defense instruction but failed to argue prejudice, so the court of appeals affirmed for lack of prejudice. 4
In postconviction proceedings, Fenstermaker alleged ineffective assistance by appellate counsel and by trial and appellate counsel over the felony-self-defense instruction theories. 5
The postconviction court granted summary judgment to the State, and the supreme court affirmed because Fenstermaker could not show prejudice. 6

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Ineffective assistance for failing to show prejudice from jury-instruction error 7	Fenstermaker says a proper instruction could have produced acquittal or manslaughter.	State says the evidence overwhelmingly refuted self-defense.	No prejudice; result would not likely have changed. 8
Ineffective assistance for omitting nexus argument on felony bar to self-defense 9	Fenstermaker says counsel should have argued only connected felonies bar self-defense.	State says counsel was not deficient and no prejudice existed.	No prejudice; claim fails without reaching deficiency. 10

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (U.S. 1984) (ineffective-assistance requires deficient performance and prejudice 11)
Harrington v. Richter, 562 U.S. 86 (U.S. 2011) (prejudice requires a substantial likelihood of a different result 12)
State v. Garcia, 424 P.3d 171 (Utah 2017) (self-defense-instruction prejudice turns on the evidence the jury heard 13)
State v. Hogue, 572 P.3d 1147 (Utah Ct. App. 2025) (distinguishes perfect from imperfect self-defense 14)
State v. Low, 192 P.3d 867 (Utah 2008) (perfect and imperfect self-defense share the reasonable-belief evidence showing 15)
State v. Sorbonne, 506 P.3d 545 (Utah 2022) (self-defense has subjective and objective necessity components 16)
State v. Silva, 456 P.3d 718 (Utah 2019) (perfect self-defense justifies force; imperfect self-defense does not 17)
State v. Bonds, 524 P.3d 581 (Utah 2023) (discusses burden of proof for self-defense 18)
Newton v. State, 585 P.3d 1159 (Utah 2025) (summary judgment and postconviction review standards 19)
State v. Ray, 469 P.3d 871 (Utah 2020) (standard of review for ineffective-assistance claims 20)
State v. Clark, 251 P.3d 829 (Utah 2011) (court applies law in effect at time of the regulated event 21)