State of Iowa
v.
Kyle Anthony Sadler
Appellee
State of Iowa
Appellant
Kyle Anthony Sadler
Attorney for the Appellee
Genevieve Reinkoester, Assistant Attorney General
Attorney for the Appellant
Peter Stiefel
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Poweshiek County, Lucy J. Gamon, Judge. AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED. Heard by Tabor, P.J., and May and Greer, JJ. Opinion by Tabor, P.J. (18 pages)
Kyle Sadler appeals his convictions of murder in the second degree, assault with a dangerous weapon, and failure to stop at the scene of an accident. Sadler argues the sufficiency of the evidence as to the second degree murder and assault charges. In addition, he brings various claims of ineffective assistance of counsel. Finally, Sadler argues the district court erred in failing to merge four convictions for failing to stop at the scene of an accident. OPINION HOLDS: Taken in the light most favorable to the State, the record was sufficient for the jury to find Sadler intended to collide with the vehicle, with malice aforethought, and that he specifically intended to injure or incite fear in the vehicle’s passengers. In addition, Sadler failed to show the requisite prejudice on the ineffective assistance of counsel claims. Finally, because Sadler could not fail to stop multiple times, the district court erred by not merging his charges for leaving the scene. We affirm on all counts, except we reverse and remand on Sadler’s convictions for failure to stop at the scene of the accident.
