Trail Mountain Coal Co. v. Utah Division of State Lands & Forestry

How later courts describe this case

• reversing death sentence because trial court excluded polygraph evidence of an accomplice that was relevant to the question of what role the accomplice truly played in the crimes
• barring department from applying amendment to rule 33-11.0065 retroactively to inmates convicted of offenses that occurred before April 21, 1996, effective date of amendment, as impermissible ex post facto law
• "It is true that a mere `disadvantage' to a defendant no longer amounts to an ex post facto violation."
• “the failure to take a futile action can never be deficient performance”