State v. Cooper, 275 P.3d 250

In 1997 the Paces acquired a 63% property interest at a tax sale and, via a quiet title action led by Rivers, had a default judgment against Cooper that established the Paces' interest.
On November 15, 2004 Cooper recorded an Administrative Judgment claiming joint and several liability of the Paces, Rivers, and Judge Davis to Cooper in the amount of $4.2 million.
On July 21, 2005 Judge Quinn entered a civil judgment declaring the Administrative Judgment a wrongful lien as it related to Judge Davis.
On January 24, 2007 Cooper signed and recorded a Consent Judgment that referenced the Administrative Judgment and purported to enable Cooper to collect liability, listing the Paces, Rivers, and Judge Davis as debtors and stating a $4.2 million liability with a 90-day deadline and lien implications.
The State charged Cooper with four counts of filing a wrongful lien; at trial the court took judicial notice of Judge Quinn's determination and denied a mistrial motion after Judge Davis testified; the jury convicted on all counts.
On appeal, the Utah Court of Appeals affirmed, holding the Consent Judgment purports to create a commercial lien and any error from judicial notice was harmless, and the mistrial denial was not an abuse of discretion.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether judicial notice of the prior civil determination was proper	State argues judicial notice was proper under Rule 201 and not prejudicial	Cooper contends Rule 201/403 were violated and prejudice occurred	Harmless error; no prejudice to Cooper
Whether the denial of the motion for a mistrial was an abuse of discretion	State argues testimony was not inherently prejudicial and defense opened the door	Cooper argues Judge Davis's testimony biased the trial and warranted a mistrial	Not an abuse of discretion; testimony was relatively innocuous and invited by defense

In re J.B., 53 P.3d 958 (Utah Ct. App. 2002) (review of judicial notice for abuse of discretion)
State v. Moore, 788 P.2d 525 (Utah Ct. App. 1990) (balance probative value versus prejudice; discretion accorded to trial court)
State v. Wach, 24 P.3d 948 (Utah 2001) (mistrial denial affirmed absent plain error; judge’s discretion)
State v. Allen, 108 P.3d 730 (Utah 2005) (limitations and curative instructions regarding improper evidence)
State v. Barney, 681 P.2d 1230 (Utah 1984) (invited error; party cannot complain of error elicited by own counsel)
Dominguez, 2003 UT App 158 (Utah Ct. App. 2003) (invited error principle in appellate review)
Harmon, 956 P.2d 262 (Utah 1998) (curative jury instruction and evidence admissibility)