State v. Ricks, 436 P.3d 350

Ricks and his girlfriend argued; she disrobed to show she had no drugs. While she sat on the tub ledge, Ricks squeezed her nipple with metal tweezers, lacerating it. Shortly after he struck her repeatedly in the face and threw a cup that split her cheek.
Ricks was charged with forcible sexual abuse (related to the tweezers incident), two counts of assault, criminal mischief, and damage/interruption of a communication device; he contested only the forcible sexual abuse count at trial.
Trial counsel conceded Ricks assaulted the girlfriend but argued the conduct did not constitute forcible sexual abuse; counsel requested a sexual battery lesser-included instruction but did not request assault as a lesser-included offense of forcible sexual abuse.
The jury convicted Ricks as charged. Ricks later claimed ineffective assistance of counsel on appeal for failing to request the assault lesser-included instruction; he also had separately rejected plea offers before trial.
The central factual/legal dispute was Ricks’s intent when he pinched and lacerated the nipple—whether he intended to cause substantial bodily/emotional pain (forcible sexual abuse) versus conduct fitting assault or sexual battery.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether trial counsel was ineffective for not requesting an assault lesser-included instruction for the forcible sexual abuse count	Ricks: counsel performed deficiently by failing to request the assault instruction	State: omission did not prejudice Ricks because evidence supported forcible sexual abuse and sexual battery instruction already given	Court: Affirmed — even assuming deficiency, Ricks failed to show prejudice; no reasonable probability jury would have convicted of assault instead

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (established two-part ineffective-assistance test requiring deficient performance and resulting prejudice)
State v. Powell, 154 P.3d 788 (Utah 2007) (standard for when a lesser-included-offense instruction is required)
State v. Baker, 671 P.2d 152 (Utah 1983) (same — quoted standard for lesser-included instructions)
State v. Jones, 878 P.2d 1175 (Utah Ct. App. 1994) (assault is a recognized lesser-included offense of forcible sexual abuse)