State of Utah v. Rivera

IN THE UTAH COURT OF APPEALS

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State of Utah,
Plaintiff and Appellee,

v.

Ian Rivera,
Defendant and Appellant.

MEMORANDUM DECISION
(Not For Official Publication)
 

Case No. 20020397-CA
 

F I L E D
(May 30, 2003)
 

2003 UT App 169

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Fifth District, Cedar City Department

The Honorable J. Philip Eves

Attorneys: J. Bryan Jackson, Cedar City, for Appellant

Mark L. Shurtleff and Marian Decker, Salt Lake City, for Appellee

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Before Judges Jackson, Bench, and Orme.

JACKSON, Presiding Judge:

Appellant Ian Rivera appeals a conviction for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, a second degree felony, in violation of Utah Code Ann. §§ 58-37-8(1)(a)(iii) and 58-37-8(4)(c) (1998). We affirm.

Rivera challenges the jury verdict of guilty on grounds of insufficiency of the evidence. He further challenges the constitutionality of the enhancement of the charges under section 58-37-8(4)(a)(vii). Neither of these challenges were preserved in the court below, and we do not address them. See State v. Holgate, 2000 UT 74,¶16, 10 P.3d 346 (stating "it is clear that

. . . a defendant must raise the sufficiency of the evidence by proper motion or objection to preserve the issue for appeal"); State v. Hodges, 2002 UT 117,¶5, 63 P.3d 66 ("Because defendant has not asserted either of the exceptions to the general rule--plain error or exceptional circumstances--we decline to address defendant's constitutional issues.").

Rivera has argued neither plain error nor exceptional circumstances, see id., and we thus affirm his conviction.

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Norman H. Jackson,

Presiding Judge

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WE CONCUR:

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Russell W. Bench, Judge

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Gregory K. Orme, Judge