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State of Iowa
v.
Richard Ryan Lamb Carson
Appellee
State of Iowa
Appellant
Richard Ryan Lamb Carson
Attorney for the Appellee
Sharon K. Hall, Assistant Attorney General
Attorney for the Appellant
Brenda J. Gohr, Assistant Appellate Defender
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clarke County, John D. Lloyd, Judge. AFFIRMED. Heard by Vogel, P.J., and Vaitheswaran and McDonald, JJ. Opinion by Vogel, P.J. Special Concurrence by Vaitheswaran, J. (19 pages)
A jury found Richard Ryan Lamb Carson guilty of two counts of first-degree murder. Carson appeals his convictions and sentence after the district court denied his motion for a mistrial. He claims the prosecutor made multiple comments during closing arguments that denied him the right to a fair trial. He further asserts his counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to object to the prosecutor’s questions during cross-examination. OPINION HOLDS: We conclude the defendant was not prejudiced by the prosecutor’s comments. Additionally, we preserve the issue of ineffective assistance of counsel for possible postconviction relief. SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: While the prosecution’s statements, in my view, violated standards carefully laid out in State v. Graves, 668 N.W.2d 860 (Iowa 2003), the strength of the State’s evidence was such that Carson cannot show prejudice. Therefore, I agree he was not entitled to a new trial.
