State of Iowa
v.
Chaka Khan Fielder
Appellee
State of Iowa
Appellant
Chaka Khan Fielder
Attorney for the Appellee
Sharon K. Hall, Assistant Attorney General
Attorney for the Appellant
Angela Campbell
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeffrey D. Farrell and Robert B. Hanson, Judges. REVERSED AND REMANDED. Heard by Tabor, P.J., Bower, J., and Mahan, S.J. Per Curiam Opinion. (33 pages)
A defendant appeals her convictions for theft by deception and tampering with a witness. She raises several contentions. OPINION HOLDS: The verdicts were supported by sufficient evidence. But the district court abused its discretion in admitting an irrelevant employee handbook that contained a broad and misleading definition of theft. We reverse the judgment and remand for a new trial without the irrelevant evidence. PARTIAL CONCURRENCE, PARTIAL DISSENT ASSERTS: The State did not show substantial evidence to support the amount stolen was sufficient for first-degree theft, only second-degree theft. I would remand for retrial only on second-degree theft by deception.
