State of Iowa
v.
John Matthew Osborn
Appellee
State of Iowa
Appellant
John Matthew Osborn
Attorney for the Appellee
Louis S. Sloven, Assistant Attorney General
Attorney for the Appellant
Vidhya K. Reddy, Assistant Appellate Defender
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Susan K. Christensen, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Mullins, P.J., Danilson, S.J., and Vogel, S.J. Opinion by Danilson, S.J. (13 pages)
John Osborn appeals from judgment and sentences imposed upon his convictions for four counts of sexual abuse in the third degree, in violation of Iowa Code sections 709.1 and 709.4(2)(c)(4) (2014). Osborn contends his trial counsel was ineffective in failing to object to a witness’s testimony as beyond the scope of the minutes and the district court abused its discretion in admitting as an exhibit the criminal complaint and attached affidavit, which was offered to refute Osborn’s inference investigators rushed to judgment. He also asserts the court imposed an illegal sentence (four concurrent terms of imprisonment), arguing multiple convictions on four counts of sexual abuse where the marshalling instructions are identical must be merged. OPINION HOLDS: We preserve the ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims for possible postconviction-relief proceedings. The district court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the admission of the criminal complaint as rebuttal to the defense’s claim of a rush to judgment. We reject the claim that an illegal sentence was imposed.
