State of Iowa
v.
Eric Chandler Parmenter
Appellee
State of Iowa
Appellant
Eric Chandler Parmenter
Attorney for the Appellee
Tyler J. Buller, Assistant Attorney General
Attorney for the Appellant
Matthew M. Boles and Adam C. Witosky
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dallas County, Gregory A. Hulse, Judge. AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED. Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Potterfield and Mullins, JJ. Opinion by Potterfield, J. (18 pages)
Defendant Eric Parmenter appeals from the judgment and sentence imposed following his conviction on two counts of sexual abuse in the third degree in violation of Iowa Code sections 709.1 and 709.4(1)(a) (2010). On appeal, Parmenter argues (1) the State’s abandonment of the charged timeframe for both counts deprived him of his due process rights; (2) the State committed prosecutorial misconduct by telling the jury to ignore the dates of the alleged incidents specified in the jury instructions; (3) Parmenter’s right to a fair trial was violated when the district court admitted the testimony of a non-sequestered rebuttal witness; and (4) the verdict was contrary to the weight of the evidence. OPINION HOLDS: Parmenter’s prosecutorial misconduct, fair trial, and weight of the evidence claims were preserved; his due process claim related to the prosecutor’s statement during closing arguments was not. Parmenter has not shown the prosecutor committed misconduct by arguing the dates listed in the jury instructions were irrelevant during rebuttal argument. We cannot say the district court’s admission of the rebuttal witness’s testimony was clearly untenable. Because the district court failed to exercise its discretion when weighing the evidence, we reverse and remand this case to the district court for proceedings consistent with this opinion.
