Opinion ID: 3168846
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: introduction

Text: ¶1 Petitioner Roland McNeil was convicted of assaulting his co-worker. Mr. McNeil did not commit the actual assault—his son Quentin did—but Mr. McNeil was charged as an accomplice STATE v. McNeil Opinion of the Court because phone records showed that calls were made between his phone and his son’s phone just before and after the assault. ¶2 At trial, the State relied on the phone records to prove Mr. McNeil’s involvement. But the State did not introduce the phone records directly into evidence; instead, it sought to introduce preliminary hearing testimony about the records from a detective who had died before trial. The defense objected, arguing that the detective’s testimony about the records was hearsay. The trial court expressed disagreement, and defense counsel apparently acquiesced, saying “Okay, it’s not hearsay,” before renewing the objection on other grounds. The testimony was ultimately admitted, and the State relied on it heavily, presenting little other evidence that the telephone calls occurred. ¶3 Ultimately, Mr. McNeil was convicted and decided to appeal. Before the court of appeals, he argued again that the testimony was hearsay—though on a different basis from the one he argued below—and argued further that his lawyer’s objection on this point had been so inadequate as to violate Mr. McNeil’s right to the effective assistance of counsel. State v. McNeil, 2013 UT App 134, ¶¶ 17, 25, 302 P.3d 844. The court of appeals rejected these arguments, concluding that (1) Mr. McNeil’s counsel invited the error in admitting the detective’s testimony and (2) any ineffective assistance by defense counsel in objecting to the admittance of the detective’s testimony was not prejudicial. Id. ¶¶ 23–24, 32. Mr. McNeil, on certiorari, asks us to reverse.