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State of Iowa
v.
Edwin J. Goodwin, Jr.
Appellee
State of Iowa
Appellant
Edwin J. Goodwin, Jr.
Attorney for the Appellee
Louis S. Sloven, Assistant Attorney General
Attorney for the Appellant
Ashley Stewart, Assistant Appellate Defender
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Joel W. Barrows, Judge. AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED. Heard by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ. Opinion by Greer, J. (18 pages)
A jury convicted Edwin Goodwin Jr. of five counts of robbery in the second degree and one count of ongoing criminal conduct through specified unlawful activity. On appeal, Goodwin maintains the trial court abused its discretion in admitting evidence of text messages over Goodwin’s authentication and relevancy objections. He further contends the evidence at trial failed to support the “continuing basis” element of his conviction for ongoing criminal conduct and that trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to object to evidence Goodwin fled from the police when they tried to apprehend him. OPINION HOLDS: The court did not abuse its discretion in admitting evidence of text messages over Goodwin’s authentication and relevancy objections, and Goodwin’s ineffective-assistance claim fails because he cannot establish prejudice. That said, because insufficient evidence supports the “continuing basis” of Goodwin’s ongoing-criminal-conduct conviction, we vacate that conviction and sentence. We remand this matter for entry of dismissal with prejudice of the charge.
