Mark Becker trial starts tomorrow

Jury selection in the Mark Becker murder trial will start 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in Shell Rock. Testimony in Butler County District Court will start the following morning of the day a jury is seated.

The trial is expected to last two weeks.

Becker, 24, is accused of shooting and killing Ed Thomas, Aplington-Parkersburg football coach. Becker is claiming insanity as his defense.

I will start liveblogging the trial when testimony begins. Go to http://gazetteonline.com to follow liveblog. Comments, opinions, questions welcomed.

 

Bill collectors coming after battered ex-wife

The physical abuse of a woman by her husband is over but now she has another fight on her hands – bill collectors.

A judge sentenced Shawn Kruse, of Cedar Rapids, to 30 years in prison Friday for first-degree kidnapping, second-degree sexual abuse, assault while participating in a felony, going armed with intent and eluding. He held his wife in the basement while torturing and raping her for hours before she freed herself and called for help.

Kruse then led police on a high speed chase and crashed his car on Highway 30 before being arrested. He had serious injuries and remains paralyzed from the waist down.

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City is trying to collect $360,000 from Kruse’s ex-wife because they were still married at the time of his medical treatment. Kruse is going to prison, so he can’t pay, but the ex-wife doesn’t have the money. She’s a single mom now with two sons to raise and without the benefit of child support.

She said her credit is ruined because of his medical bills, not to mention her own medical expenses from this incident. She told the court in a victim impact statement that she can’t pay his debts and doesn’t feel obligated to a man who nearly killed her last year.

Kruse gagged her mouth with a pair of her panties, ripped off her fake nails, beat and raped her twice while her wrists were taped together behind her back. He also stomped on her pubic bone and piled furniture on top of her, so she couldn’t escape while he left the house to get a shotgun. He had planned to kill both of them.

She called him her “boogeyman.” She still has nightmares about the hours he tortured her. She told the judge she was OK with the 30 year sentence but would prefer he be sentenced to one year for every minute he abused her.

Her father in an impact statement said the “evil in Shawn Kruse’s mind and soul can’t be measured.”

Her mother said she will never forget the “most horrible scream” when her daughter  called her that early morning for help. She said the scream didn’t prepare her for what she saw. Her daughter’s face was black and blue and she was swollen and bleeding.

“This man viciously beat my daughter and my little girl,” her mother said.

Here is the article posted Saturday on Gazetteonline.com http://tinyurl.com/yeg7wjg

 

Only argument in Mark Becker murder trial is insanity

I wanted to post the comments some lawyers took the time to give me last week that didn’t make it into Sunday’s preview article on the Mark Becker murder trial.

As many of you know by today the trial was delayed due to the weather until Wednesday. If it snows as much as they are predicting in Butler County, up to 10 inches or so, the judge may delay it again. Becker is accused of shooting and killing Ed Thomas, Aplington-Parkersburg football coach.

The discussion I had with some defense attorneys was about the defense strategy in the Becker case.

The facts of the case aren’t in dispute. There were 20 students in the weight room that day who will likely testify regarding what happened June 24. The only fact to be argued is whether Becker was insane at the time of the shooting.

With an insanity defense, Becker will have the burden of proof, instead of the prosecution which is the standard in other criminal cases. His attorney, Susan Flander, must prove Becker didn’t understand the nature and quality of the act or he didn’t understand right from wrong when he fired multiple shots at Thomas on June 24.

Flander didn’t take depositions in the case, so according to criminal procedure she didn’t have to share her witness list with the prosecution. Several defense attorneys speculate she didn’t because this isn’t a true “fact” case — where the facts are disputed.

Mike Lahammer, Cedar Rapids attorney, said this case will heavily rely on the opinions of mental health experts. It would be a waste of time to depose the students who were in the weight room and the police officers who investigated the shooting, he said.

It was probably a strategic reason not to take depositions because it can limit the state’s evidence to what’s been outlined in the minutes of testimony filed with the trial information, said Brian Farrell, board member of the Iowa Innocence project and attorney.

Mark Brown, Cedar Rapids attorney, said it’s not that common in murder cases because depositions can be a good discovery tool. There have been times when Brown has discovered new information during a deposition to  help him and be negative for the prosecution, he said.

Robert Rigg, associate professor at Drake University of Law, said the only danger is if the lawyer loses the case it could cause appellate counsel to investigate a possible “claim of ineffective assistance.”

An insanity case really comes down to the “battle of the experts” as Rigg refers to it. Two defense experts will testify as to Becker’s mental state and two prosecution experts will refute it.

During the competency hearing, a defense and prosecution expert, diagnosed Becker  as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia. But the defense expert said Becker didn’t understand the charge brought against him and couldn’t assist in his defense. The prosecution expert said Becker was competent and understood.

 

Becker trial delayed

Mark Becker murder trial in Butler County is delayed because of weather. The area is expected to get 5 to 10 inches of snow.

Judge Stephen Carroll issued an order today delaying the trial until 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

 

Mark Becker trial starts Monday

I will be liveblogging the Mark Becker trial starting Monday in Butler County District Court. Becker, charged with first-degree murder, is accused of shooting and killing Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas last June.

Becker is claiming insanity as his defense, one that doesn’t have much success. Less than 1 percent of defendants plead insanity and of those, only a quarter were found guilty by insanity.

Michelle Kehoe, who killed her 2-year-old and attempted to kill her 7-year-old in 2008, claimed insanity but was just convicted late last year and was sentenced to life in prison.

The jurors didn’t believe Kehoe fit the legal definition of insanity. According to Iowa law this means the defendant cannot understand the nature and quality of the act or cannot distinguish right from wrong. I think what hurt Kehoe was that she had premeditated actions. She bought the duct tape and hunting knife a few months before she slashed her sons’ throats. And she wrote a draft of a note she left at the scene saying some stranger had abducted them and hurt the boys.

It always comes to the medical experts. I think it’s really about who is more credible on the stand and who has the best explanation of Becker’s actions. not sure what the experts will say but Becker has been diagnosed as suffering from paranoid schizophrenia.

It should be interesting. It probably will be an emotional trial. The other witnesses who will testify, many of them the students who were in the weight room that day, will tell the jury what they saw, what they heard–that gunshot sound they probably will never forget.

Please follow my liveblog and jump on and ask questions or share a comment. The liveblog will start as soon as a jury is selected. The attorneys have predicted the selection could take up to three days. The trial will likely go two weeks.

 

Police officer’s assaulter takes a plea

Jose Rockiett, 18, of Cedar Rapids, pleaded guilty today for the robbery of two men and the assault of C.R. police officer Tim Davis, who suffered a serious head injury last year.

Some may think Rockiett got off easy but the teen will receive 25 years in prison and the Davis’ are satisfied with the plea agreement.

Assistant Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden said he thought it was an appropriate sentence for the crime and received the victims approval before making the deal.

Rockiett, who has been in and out of trouble during his teen years, told officers after he was arrested that he didn’t know Davis was a police officer that night. He says he only “swung” once at Davis.

Rockiett’s mother, Joezetta Fowler, supported her son throughout this incident. She even testified at a hearing to determine if Rockiett should be tried as a juvenile or adult, since he was arrested at age 17. She said he had depressive tendencies and a history of sexual abuse and didn’t think he would do well in the adult system.

The judge ruled he would be tried as an adult based on the violence of this crime and Rockiett’s previous criminal history.

I was hoping Fowler would talk to me after the pleading but she wouldn’t even acknowledge my request for comment. I guess, I understand that. It has to be rough for her to see her 18-year-old going to jail.

She didn’t seem too pleased with the plea agreement. Before the hearing started, she became upset with, I think, all the media in attendance. She went out and I thought she might try to stop the pleading. A short time later, she came back in. She was calm but still angry.

Watching Fowler at previous court hearings, I think she feels her son hasn’t gotten a fair shake in all this. There has been overwhelming community support and cop support for Davis and a lot of animosity for her child. She probably thinks some of it is racism because the young black man robbed two white guys and assaulted a white officer.

The bottom line is Rockiett made the choice to commit the robbery and hit Davis.

 

Women with Krazy Glue

That famous line “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned” came to life in Chilton, Wis.,  last summer when four women decided to take revenge on a cheating lover and applied Krazy Glue to his genitals. One of the women was his wife.

The women reached plea deals today and were each sentenced to one year probation.

It’s an interesting story. The scorned ladies lured the man back to a motel room and one punched him and glued his penis to his stomach, while the others, charged with false imprisonment, confronted him about having relationships with each of them.

Three of the women apologized to the judge, saying they only wanted to confront him but things got out of control. His wife declined to speak during the sentencing.

Here’s the original article http://tinyurl.com/yekjtyt

 

Defendant dies before going to court

An unusual situation came up this week. I was checking on a trial date for a theft case where an employee allegedly stole more than $200,000 from the Cedar Rapids school district and discovered the charges were dismissed in November.

I obviously lost track of this case but when I saw it was dismissed I thought she probably worked out a deal with the school district and paid the money back or she was unjustly accused. Not quite. The charges were dropped because she died.

Jamie May, 42, of Cedar Rapids, a former accounts receivable clerk for the district charged with first-degree theft, died Nov. 1 of cardiac arrhythmia after fighting breast cancer.

It was surprising to say the least. A defendant dying before going to trial doesn’t happen often in this district. (I know, some are thinking it’s possible with court delays and how long it takes to get to a trial)

The police detective who worked the case said it was never considered a suspicious death because he had found out about her medical condition during the investigation.

Assistant Linn County Attorney Jason Bessler also said he was aware of her cancer and had been told she died in her sleep.

The district can recover the loss through insurance and has taken steps this week to prevent another theft in the accounting department by hiring an internal auditor and will also hire an accounting supervisor. The state auditor’s office is also conducting an investigation but it won’t be completed until some time in February.

The thing you have to remember in this case is Jamie May never made it to court. She was only accused of this crime, not convicted.

Bessler made a good point–since the  charges were dismissed she remains innocent because she was never proven guilty. No matter what the police, county attorney or an auditor’s report says, she wasn’t found guilty.

That’s our system…….And justice for all!

 

Guilty verdict in sex abuse case

Update from previous post:

The jury came back this afternoon with guilty verdicts for Duane Fleming, 39, on third-degree sexual abuse and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. They deliberated about eight hours.

Details of the case  are in yesterday’s post.

 

No verdict yet in sex abuse case

Update from earlier post: No verdict in Duane Fleming third-degree sexual abuse case. Jury will resume deliberations 9 a.m. Tuesday.

Read post below for details of case.