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State of Iowa
v.
Vester Matthew Rawlins
Appellee
State of Iowa
Appellant
Vester Matthew Rawlins
Attorney for the Appellee
Timothy M. Hau, Assistant Attorney General
Attorney for the Appellant
Josh Irwin, Assistant Appellate Defender
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Coleman McAllister and Jeanie Vaudt, Judges. REVERSED AND REMANDED. Considered by Ahlers, P.J., Badding, J., and Potterfield, S.J. Opinion by Badding, J. (20 pages)
Vester Matthew Rawlins appeals his convictions for simple assault and domestic abuse assault causing bodily injury. He raises several claims, including that the district court erred in admitting body-cam footage because it contained testimonial statements that violated his right to confrontation. OPINION HOLDS: We find the body-cam video contained testimonial statements that violated Rawlins’s right to confrontation. And we conclude that Rawlins’s conviction for simple assault should have merged with his conviction for domestic abuse assault causing bodily injury. For these reasons, we reverse Rawlins’s convictions, vacate the entry of judgment and sentence on those convictions, and remand for a new trial on the charge of domestic abuse assault causing bodily injury only.
