{1 Fоllowing a jury trial, Defendant Idrees Adam Idrees was convicted of being an accomplice to murder, a first degree felony, see Utah Code Ann. § 76-5-208 (Lexis-Nexis 2012), and possession of a firearm by a restricted person, a second degree felony, see id. § 76-10-508(2)(a). Defendant appeals only the murder conviction, arguing that there was insufficient evidence to convict him and that he received ineffective assistance from his trial counsel. We affirm.
BACKGROUND
T2 During a party on January 20, 2012, Defendant and Akol Joker got in a fight with
€ 3 Later, a group of nine people, including Defendant, Joker, and the victim, all drove away in an SUV. Joker again started arguing with the victim about being a snitch. As Joker becamе increasingly enraged, everyone in the car, including Defendant, tried to pacify him. Defendant repeatedly told Joker to "chill out" and attempted to reason with him in an effort to diffuse the situation. Despite these efforts, Joker continued to get angrier and repeatedly asked Defendant, who was sitting in the front seat at the time, to give him the gun. Defendant told Joker "no" and "not here" and told him to stop arguing. At some point, however, Joker did get the gun. Some witnesses testified that Defendant handed Joker the gun, while others testified that Joker grabbed the gun from the front seat where Defendant was sitting. Defendant then told Joker to "squash it." A few seconds later, Joker turned around and shot the victim in the head.
T4 At Defendant's trial, the definition of "squash it" became an issue. The prosecution's primаry witness, who was in the car during the murder, testified that "squash it" could have multiple meanings but that she understood Defendant's meaning to be to "get it over with" or "finish it." Defendant's trial counsel failed to introduce any evidence to rebut the State's key witness's characterization of "squash it" but did attempt to address it in closing arguments. Trial counsel stated:
Quash it.[3 ] They get to choose their definition, but they admit there is two definitions.... They say quash it could mean to injure somebody. Or if you are from where I am from, I am from Houston, Texas. I spent some time in a poor part of town. Let me tell you what quash is. I can tell you what the definition of quash is. And let me give it to you. This is coming from me. Use your own definition of quash it.
At that point, the prosecution objected. The objection was overruled, and trial counsel continued to explain "quash it," arguing that it could mean to avoid a violent confrontation.
15 The prosecution also focused on the phrase "squash it" during its closing argument:
Akol Joker tells [Defendant], Give me your gun. [Defendant] says no. Akol Joker says, Give me your gun. He says no. Akol Joker says, Give me your gun. [De*654 fendant] hands Akol Joker [Defendant's] gun that he has fixed and he says, Squash it.
Now, there are two definitions of squash. I am not choosing which definition to use. [The witness] is.... I don't think she consulted with whatever handbook or help definition that [Defendant's trial counsel] is referring to....
She says when they are in the car [Defendant] wasn't saying calm down, he instigated, it stirred things up.... She says she sees Joker reach up, and she hears [Defendant] say, Squash it, and as soon as that happens [she] is saying, I'm a girl. I'm a girl. I'm a girl. Don't shoot. And she is cowering now, because she knows what he meant when he said, Squash it.
T6 After hearing all the evidence, the jury convicted Defendant of murder as an accomplice. Defendant appeals from that verdict.
ISSUES AND STANDARDS OF REVIEW
T7 Defendant argues that there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction. In considering an insufficiency of the evidence claim, "we review the evidence and all inferences which may reasonably be drawn from it in the light most favorable to the verdict of the jury." State v. Shumway,
T8 Defendant also argues that he received ineffective assistance from his trial counsel. Ineffective assistance of counsel claims, when raised for the first time on appeal, present questions of law. See State v. Clark,
ANALYSIS
I. Sufficiency of the Evidence
19 Defendant argues that the State failed tо produce enough evidence to prove Defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. To hold a defendant eriminally liable for another person's conduct, the State must prove (1) that the defendant had the "mental state required" for the crimе and (2) that the defendant "solicitfedl, request[ed], command[ed], encouragled], or intentionally aid[ed]" the person who committed the crime. See Utah Code Ann. § 76-2-202 (LexisNexis 2012). See also State v. Briggs,
10 It is not our role to "reassess credibility or reweigh the evidence." State v. Workman,
II. Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
111 Defendant also claims that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to present expert testimony at trial on the appropriate interpretation of the phrase "squash it." To prevail on this claim, Defendant must show that his trial "counsel's representation fell below an objective standard of reasonableness," Strickland v. Washington,
{12 To support his ineffectiveness claim, Defendant filed, through his current counsel, a commendably detailed and otherwise credible rule 28B motion asking us to remand for further findings. See Utah R.App. P. 23B. In the motion, Defendant presents nonspecu-lative facts, including affidavits from experts, which convincingly show that the settled meaning of "squash it" is "to resolve a situation without violence." Courts and lawyers typically exert considerable effort to discern the proper meaning of words in legislative enactments and contracts, and it seems no less important here to make similar efforts to ensure that a jury has the benefit of the true meaning of Defendant's words. Seq, eg., Smith v. United States,
1183 The State recognizes the рotential significance of the evidence proffered in Defendant's rule 28B motion but argues that even if we assume that "squash it" can only mean to resolve a conflict without violence, it would not have changed the jury's verdict. We will assume then, for purposes of this appeal, that the phrase "squash it" can only mean to resolve a situation without violence. We further assume, for purposes of this appeal, that defense counsel was remiss in not doing more with this important information. Failing to introduce evidence about the meaning of the phrase "squash it" and then attempting to testify from personal experience during closing arguments about the meaning of "quash it" was not an objectively reasonable trial strategy. Nor could it have been an objectively reasonable strategy, as the State attempts to argue, to intentionally exclude exculpatory evidence available from an expert witness about the meaning of a phrase for fear of opening the door to otherwisе forbidden character evidence about Defendant. See Utah R. Evid. 404(a).
1 14 But even assuming that trial counsel's performance was objectively deficient, Defendant must also demonstrate that the deficient performance adversely affected the outcome of the trial. See State v. Charles,
15 "To demonstrate prejudice, a defendant must show that 'but for counsel's deficient performancе there is a reasonable probability that the outcome of the trial would have been different.'" Charles,
116 In this case, Defendant has failed to shоw he was prejudiced by any deficiency in trial counsel's performance. The jury, which we have already concluded acted upon sufficient evidence, see supra 110, weighed and considered an abundance of exculpatory and inculрatory evidence. The jury heard testimony that Defendant repeatedly told Joker that he would not give him the gun and that Defendant tried to reason with Joker not to shoot. Despite all this, the jury still found Defendant guilty on the weight of the ineul-patory evidence, such as Defendant's making threats, fixing the gun, and giving the gun to Joker. It is not reasonably probable that evidence of one more exculpatory protestation from Defendant would have had any effect upon the jury's final decision. The "evidentiary picture" and the inferences drawn therefrom would not have been signifi
CONCLUSION
T17 Therе was sufficient evidence before the jury to sustain Defendant's conviction. Even assuming Defendant's trial counsel performed deficiently in not doing more to establish the meaning of the phrase "squash it," Defendant has failed to demonstrate that he was prejudiced as a result. Accordingly, Defendant's conviction is affirmed.
Notes
. "On appeal, we recite the facts from the record in the light most favorable to the jury's verdict
. Prior to Defendant's trial, Joker pled guilty to murdering the victim.
. Defendant's trial counsel consistently referred to the phrase as "quash it" rather than "squash it."
. Trial counsel credited the Harvard School of Public Health with coining the phrase "squash it" and with аttempting to integrate it into "African-American street culture." See Squash It!, The Free Dictionary, http://medical-dictionary. thefreedictionary.com/squash+it (last visited March 21, 2014). This explanation appears to be factually inaccurate. The Harvard Sсhool of Public Health does not claim to have coined the phrase but describes its "Squash It!" Campaign as building on a phrase already "used by inner-city youth," meaning to "walk away from confrontations without losing face." See "Squash It!" Campaign, Harvard Schoоl of Public Health, http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/chc/ squash-it-campaign/ (last visited March 21, 2014). Furthermore, Defendant's rule 23B motion is accompanied by an affidavit from an experi witness who avers that the phrase has been in use for at least forty years and means to "stand down from a confrontation to avoid violence."