State v. Graves, 442 P.3d 1228

In April 2016 in Ferron, Utah, Reyfus Mellow Graves fired a .22 revolver three times as JH and SO arrived at an apartment; no one was hit. Witnesses testified Graves yelled something like “This is how we do it in Puerto Rico” while firing; Graves denied the statement.
Graves was tried on one count of attempted murder, two counts of felony discharge of a firearm, and one count of reckless endangerment; the jury convicted on all counts.
At trial the prosecutor questioned several witnesses about the Puerto Rico remark and referenced it in closing; defense and defense witnesses (including Graves and his mother) also mentioned Graves’s Puerto Rican origin multiple times. Graves made no contemporaneous objection on racial or constitutional grounds (one hearsay objection was made and overruled).
On appeal Graves raised two unpreserved claims for plain‑error review: (1) that repeated references to his Puerto Rican heritage injected racial bias and violated due process/equal protection; and (2) that the attempted‑murder conviction lacked sufficient evidence.
The court reviewed the transcript and held that (a) the repeated references were evidence‑based or made by defense/witnesses and Graves failed to identify any specific racial‑appeal instance, and (b) the evidence (witness testimony and ballistics consistency) was sufficient when viewed in the light most favorable to the verdict.

Issue	Graves’s Argument	State’s Argument	Held
Whether repeated references to Graves’s Puerto Rican heritage violated his due process/equal protection rights	Repeated mentions (he counted ~57) cumulatively appealed to racial prejudice and denied a fair trial	References were evidence‑based (relating to an alleged statement) or were raised by defense/witnesses; Graves failed to object; no plain error shown	No plain error; references were not shown to be unconstitutional appeals to racial bias
Whether attempted‑murder conviction was supported by sufficient evidence	Evidence was inconclusive: no conclusive ballistic link to bullet marks and testimony conflicts	Two eyewitnesses testified Graves shot at them and others saw him point the gun; marks were consistent with a .22; credibility resolved by jury	Sufficient evidence upheld; conviction affirmed

Strauder v. West Virginia, 100 U.S. 303 (constitutional principle of equal treatment regardless of race)
Rose v. Mitchell, 443 U.S. 545 (racial discrimination is especially pernicious in justice administration)
United States v. Doe, 903 F.2d 16 (D.C. Cir. 1990) (distinguishing permissible evidentiary references to race from impermissible appeals to racial passion)
McCleskey v. Kemp, 481 U.S. 279 (racially biased prosecutorial argument is constitutionally prohibited; courts must guard against racial prejudice)
Pena‑Rodriguez v. Colorado, 137 S. Ct. 855 (procedural safeguards enforcing anti‑discrimination guarantees)
State v. Martinez, 304 P.3d 54 (Utah 2013) (standard of review for constitutional questions)
State v. Nielsen, 326 P.3d 645 (Utah 2014) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence)