- The Utah Court of Appeals has upheld Omar Cortez Izarraraz's conviction for shooting at a party.
- Cortez was sentenced in 2022 to a term of five years to life in prison for seven counts of discharging a firearm and obstructing justice.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction of a Utah man found guilty of shooting and critically injuring a man he'd grown up with during a fight after a West Valley birthday party in June of 2020.
Omar Cortez Izarraraz, 26, was sentenced on March 14, 2022, to three terms of five years to life in prison for three counts of felony discharge of a firearm causing serious injury, a first-degree felony; four terms of three to five years for felony discharge of a firearm, a third-degree felony; and one to 15 years for obstructing justice, a second-degree felony.
Third District Judge Richard McKelvie ordered the sentences to be served concurrent.
The appeals court ruled in favor of prosecutors on July 25, deciding his attorney was not ineffective and affirming his conviction.
According to the ruling, Cortez went to a party for a woman turning 21, and at one point, a friend he came with got into a fight with Nicholas Lanzalaca — a man Cortez had known since he was a child.
Cortez then got mad. As Cortez and his friends were leaving, Lanzalaca later said he was wondering if they were going to fight him.
Later, when the party was over, Cortez and his friend came back and Lanzalaca opened the door. Cortez approached Lanzalaca and said, "You sure you want to do this?"
Lanzalaca pushed Cortez's hand off his shoulder, and then Cortez pulled out a gun, shooting seven times, and hitting Lanzalaca three times.
After the party, Cortez posted on his Instagram page, "Just shot someone," "Unloaded the whole clip on him," and he "ain't going home," according to charging documents.
Lanzalaca woke up in the hospital two weeks later and remained in the hospital for about three months. Court documents say he underwent at least nine different surgeries.
He described the interaction during the trial, testifying that he thought Cortez had emptied the entire clip at him.
When confronted by officers at his home, Cortez denied being at the party or knowing the friend he came with.
During the trial, he presented testimony supporting that he acted in self-defense. His friend testified that Cortez was a peacemaker and came to calm Lanzalaca down, but the man taunted Cortez and tried to reach for his gun.
Cortez testified that he came to apologize, but Lanzalaca responded by "jumping" at him, and he saw "the gleam of a blade." Police testified that a knife with a bloody handle and closed blade was found in Lanzalaca's pockets.
Cortez claimed in his appeal that his attorney should have objected to Lanzalaca testifying that he thought Cortez was on probation at the time. He also said his attorney should have asked more questions to two jurors with police connections and challenged Utah's laws on imperfect self-defense, which did not apply because he was charged with discharging a firearm rather than attempted murder.
