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Case No. 19-0152

State of Iowa
v.
Walter Cordell Williams

Appellee

State of Iowa

Appellant

Walter Cordell Williams

Attorney for the Appellee

Zachary Miller, Assistant Attorney General

Attorney for the Appellant

Bradley M. Bender, Assistant Appellate Defender

Court of Appeals

Court of Appeals Opinion

Opinion Number:
19-0152
Date Published:
Aug 05, 2020
Summary

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Kellyann Lekar, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., Greer, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Opinion by Potterfield, S.J.  (14 pages)

            Walter Williams appeals from his convictions for involuntary manslaughter while committing a public offense and child endangerment resulting in death.  Williams maintains there was insufficient evidence to support his conviction, makes ineffective-assistance claims regarding counsel’s failure to object to some jury instructions and move for a new trial based on the weight of the evidence, and complains the court improperly imposed restitution.  OPINION HOLDS: Substantial evidence supports Williams’s convictions, so we affirm.  Because Williams’s claims of ineffective assistance are not sufficiently developed for our review, we preserve each of those claims for possible postconviction-relief proceedings.  Due to the recently-enacted Senate File 457 and the resulting changes in the law regarding restitution, we affirm Williams’s sentences and leave it to him, once jurisdiction returns to the district court, to challenge restitution under the new laws. 

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