Opinion
No. 3-944 / 03-0310.
Filed January 14, 2004.
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Lee (North) County, Mary Ann Brown, Judge.
Cardona appeals his conviction for interference with official acts. AFFIRMED.
Linda Del Gallo, State Appellate Defender, and Nan Jennisch, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Richard Bennett and Robert Colaser, Assistant Attorneys General, and Michael Short, County Attorney, for appellee.
Considered by Vogel, P.J., and Hecht and Vaitheswaran, JJ.
Rene Cardona was an inmate at the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison. Following a melee between inmates and guards, the State charged Cardona with interference with official acts. Iowa Code § 719.1(2) (2001). A jury found him guilty.
Another charge was dismissed.
On appeal, Cardona contends there is insufficient evidence to support the finding of guilt. We will uphold such a finding if it is supported by substantial evidence. State v. Bash, 670 N.W.2d 135, 137 (Iowa 2003).
The jury was instructed that the State would have to prove the following elements:
1. On or about September 25, 2001, the defendant was under the custody, control or supervision of the Iowa Department of Corrections.
2. The defendant knowingly resisted, obstructed, or interfered with a correction officer in the performance of the correctional officer's official duties.
Jurors were further instructed that, if the State proved both elements, they were to answer the following special questions:
In committing this offense, did the defendant commit an assault?
In committing this offense, did the defendant inflict or attempt to inflict bodily injury other than serious injury to another?
The jury answered "yes" to both questions.
Cardona only challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the finding that he "inflicted or attempted to inflict bodily injury on a correctional officer." This phrase was defined for the jury as "physical pain, illness or any impairment of physical condition."
Under Iowa Code section 719.1(2), a person who commits an assault while violating the subsection is guilty of an aggravated misdemeanor, while a person who inflicts or attempts to inflict bodily injury other than serious injury while violating the subsection is guilty of a class D felony.
A reasonable jury could have found from the evidence that the "bodily injury" alternative was satisfied, based on the following evidence. A fight broke out between two inmates in the gymnasium. Officer Rudy Perez and another officer broke up the fight and restrained a third agitated inmate. A group of fifteen to thirty inmates who were watching these events became upset at the treatment of the restrained inmate and began a fight with Perez and other officers. Perez was struck. He sustained bruises underneath both eyes.
A videotape recorded Cardona's closed fist and arm extending toward Perez. Although there is some dispute as to whether Cardona's fist actually made contact with Perez's face, there is no question that Cardona attempted to strike Perez. We find substantial evidence to support the "bodily injury" alternative of interference with official acts.