Polk County, Iowa. The government accused a man of assaulting his girlfriend’s father with a dangerous weapon. Upon discovering that the alleged victim had motive to lie about what happened — he was angry about his white daughter dating the black defendant — and had moved into the defendant’s home without his permission during the…
Polk County, Iowa. The Animal Rescue League and the government accused someone of hoarding cats. The government charged the defendant with numerous counts of serious misdemeanor and simple misdemeanor animal neglect. The defendant entered an Alford plea. An Alford plea allows a person to state that they are innocent but want to accept a plea…
Carroll County, Iowa. The government charged a man with domestic abuse assault. Defense attorney Katherine Sears raised the issue of self defense. The prosecutor dismissed the charges the morning of trial, after the jury pool had been seated. Do you need a lawyer? If you want me to represent you when you are charged with…
Polk County, Iowa. A defendant had three separate simple assault charges and one criminal mischief charge spaced over half a year or so. Defense lawyer Katherine Sears filed an 812 motion, raising the issue of whether the defendant was competent to stand trial. When a defendant can’t understand what they’re charged with or can’t assist…
Page County, Iowa. The government accused a defendant of Assault Causing Bodily Injury, a serious misdemeanor. They claimed the defendant punched the alleged victim in the face after the alleged victim made disparaging racial remarks. The alleged victim had a gun and discharged a round of ammunition. Attorney Katherine Sears filed notice of intent to…
You have the right to peaceful assembly! People protest the state for good reasons. The government isn’t always very nice. Some police protect people. Some police murder people. Sometimes, the government takes steps to protect bad cops. Even if your protest was nice, cops might say that you violated lawful orders. It’s important to take…
If you’ve been accused of participating in a violent or destructive assembly, whether in pursuit of long-awaited and millenia-overdue racial equality or because you were real mad that a sports team did or didn’t win a game, you may find yourself charged with Riot, an aggravated misdemeanor in violation of Iowa Code Section 723.1. You…
Previously, most Iowa crimes sentenced in adult court were not eligible for expungement. (“Expungement” is when a part of your record gets sealed in a way that means it isn’t readily visible to the public anymore.) In order to have an offense expunged from your Iowa record, it had to be one of a very…
Disorderly conduct is a simple misdemeanor, which means it’s one of the smallest offenses you can be charged with. Nonetheless, if you want to keep your criminal record clean, this is still a charge worth fighting — and depending on what kind of disorderly conduct you’re accused of committing, there are some solid First Amendment…
Misdemeanor or felony domestic abuse assault charges can be an uphill battle. Sometimes, domestic abusers call the police. They want to punish victims who have called the police in the past. Maybe they call to prove that they are in control of what happens. If your abuser frames you as the bad guy, you need…