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Case No. 19-0562

State of Iowa
v.
Ruben Deases

Appellee

State of Iowa

Appellant

Ruben Deases

Attorney for the Appellee

Louis S. Sloven, Assistant Attorney General

Attorney for the Appellant

John L. Dirks

Court of Appeals

Court of Appeals Opinion

Opinion Number:
19-0562
Date Published:
Mar 04, 2020
Summary

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, Bethany J. Currie, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  Special concurrence by May, J.  (16 pages)

            Ruben Deases, initially sentenced as a minor for first-degree murder, appeals his re-sentencing of life in prison with the possibility of parole after serving a minimum of forty years in prison, arguing that the court placed undue weight on the nature of the crime and did not adequately balance that with all of the evidence of his rehabilitation. OPINION HOLDS: Because the court did not abuse its discretion in its thorough consideration of the sentencing factors, we affirm.  SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: I wholeheartedly agree there was no abuse of discretion and we should affirm.  But I respectfully submit we should not question the propriety of the State’s expert.

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