State v. Torres, 427 P.3d 550

Torres and the victim (his then‑girlfriend) argued at his father’s apartment; Torres struck her several times inside the apartment and later used his vehicle against her during an altercation in the parking lot. Photographs showed bruising to the victim’s legs and eye.
The victim described Torres’s car hitting her legs multiple times, the car rolling over her to the mid‑torso, and Torres accelerating a second time, throwing her onto the hood before driving off; Torres disputed the rolling‑over detail at trial.
Torres’s sister testified to an altercation outside and gave an account that partially conflicted with the victim’s version. The victim gave somewhat inconsistent prior statements to police and the 911 dispatcher about whether she was in front of or behind the car.
About a week later Torres sent Facebook instant messages apologizing and admitting prior abuse of the victim (e.g., “I beat you every day”), which the court admitted at trial without objection.
A jury convicted Torres of aggravated assault (count 1, felony) and assault (count 2, misdemeanor). He did not move for a directed verdict at trial and raises two ineffective‑assistance claims on appeal: (1) counsel should have moved for a directed verdict on aggravated assault; (2) counsel should have objected to and redacted the Facebook messages asserting prior abuse.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Sufficiency of evidence to support aggravated assault (failure to move for directed verdict)	State: evidence (victim testimony, photos, sister’s testimony, messages) was sufficient to submit to jury	Torres: evidence was inconclusive and inherently improbable (vehicle could not have rolled over her); counsel ineffective for not moving for directed verdict	Court: Counsel not deficient; a directed‑verdict motion would have been futile because, viewing evidence in State’s favor, a reasonable jury could convict.
Admission of Facebook messages admitting prior abuse (failure to object/redact)	State: messages were relevant and corroborative of abuse; similar prior acts against same victim are unlikely to be unduly prejudicial	Torres: messages contained inadmissible character evidence about prior bad acts that prejudiced the jury	Court: No prejudice shown. Messages described abuse of the same victim (similar acts) and did not introduce more serious prior acts or bolster disputed vehicle conduct; no reasonable probability of different outcome if redacted.

Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668 (ineffective assistance standard for deficiency and prejudice)
State v. Robbins, 210 P.3d 288 (Utah 2009) (inherent improbability exception to jury credibility determinations)
State v. Reed, 8 P.3d 1025 (Utah 2000) (prior similar acts against same victim are less likely to unduly prejudice jury)
State v. Prater, 392 P.3d 398 (Utah 2017) (jury is exclusive judge of witness credibility; inconsistencies alone do not render testimony apparently false)
State v. Montoya, 84 P.3d 1183 (Utah 2004) (standard for directed verdict review and counsel strategy presumption)
State v. Hayes, 860 P.2d 968 (Utah Ct. App. 1993) (jury may believe or disbelieve all or part of witness testimony)