State of Iowa
v.
Bryan Halfhill
Appellee
State of Iowa
Appellant
Bryan Halfhill
Attorney for the Appellee
Louis S. Sloven, Assistant Attorney General
Attorney for the Appellant
Joey T. Hoover
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Michael J. Shubatt, Judge. REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR NEW TRIAL. Considered by Bower, C.J., Vaitheswaran, J., and Potterfield, S.J. Opinion by Potterfield, S.J. (8 pages)
Bryan Halfhill was convicted of second-degree sexual abuse, lascivious acts with a child, and lascivious acts with a child by way of soliciting a person to commit a sex act with a child. On appeal, Halfhill contends (1) the prosecutor engaged in misconduct, which should result in Halfhill receiving a new trial; (2) because of lack of corroborating evidence for his alleged accomplice’s testimony, the State failed to present substantial evidence to support any of Halfhill’s three convictions; and (3) the district court wrongly admitted testimony that constituted backdoor hearsay. OPINION HOLDS: We agree with Halfhill that “backdoor hearsay” was admitted at this trial. The district court failed to recognize the issue when Halfhill objected, so no curative actions were taken. Under the circumstances of this case, the State cannot prove the error was not prejudicial to Halfhill, so we reverse and remand for a new trial. As this issue is dispositive, we do not consider Halfhill’s other claims.
