Court upholds murder conviction

The capital murder conviction against a man who confessed to stabbing his pregnant ex-girlfriend and leaving her to die in a Summit County snowbank nearly 10 years ago will stand, the Utah Supreme Court ruled Tuesday.

Defense attorney Scott York called the unanimous decision against Calvin Shane Myers unfortunate.

"Justice was not done and would never be done unless Mr. Myers got another day in court," York said. "And that may or may not happen."

Myers now has limited avenues for relief, and York was unsure if the now 30-year-old inmate is even interested in future litigation. Still, York said, plenty of doubt remains as to Myers' culpability in the December 1994 crime.

"If you really, really look at the detailed facts of his case, there's reasonable doubt all over the place," York said.

Assistant Attorney General Christopher Ballard noted, however, that Myers admitted stabbing Irene Christensen several times, and prosecutors also had an eyewitness account of the murder.

"What (Tuesday's opinion) really is saying is there's a finality," Ballard said. "We have to accord finality to criminal convictions. We can't let those go challenged forever."

In his petition for post-conviction relief, York contended Myers was improperly charged with two counts of aggravated murder and then coerced into accepting a plea bargain to save his life. Among other things, York said, prosecutors presented no evidence that two people died in the crime and that state statute failed to properly define a 16-week-old fetus as a "person" under the law.

The high court declined to address those issues, saying they are procedurally barred because they were already raised in the lower court.

"Myers has alleged no unusual circumstances that would justify this court in addressing these issues again in a post-conviction proceeding," the opinion states. "If Myers felt that he was denied relief, he should have taken the dismissal of his prior motions up on direct appeal."

Which is another point York raised in his petition — that Myers received poor advice from his original attorney. After the trial judge upheld the constitutionality of the charges, York said, the issue should have been immediately taken to the Supreme Court.