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State v. Tjernagel

Court of Appeals of Iowa.
Jan 11, 2017
895 N.W.2d 922 (Iowa Ct. App. 2017)

Summary

finding prejudice where "the State's case . . . rested entirely on the credibility of the witnesses . . . [t]here was no physical evidence of the alleged abuse and no witnesses other than the complaining witness," and "the expert witnesses' vouching testimony here 'was pervasive—not just a single statement'"

Summary of this case from In re C.W.

Opinion

No. 15-1519

01-11-2017

STATE of Iowa, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jill TJERNAGEL, Defendant-Appellant.

Brandon J. Brown, Robert P. Montgomery, and Adam C. Witosky of Parrish Kruidenier Dunn Boles Gribble Gentry Brown & Bergmann L.L.P., Des Moines, for appellant. Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Sheryl A. Soich, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.


DECISION WITHOUT PUBLISHED OPINION

Reversed and Remanded.


Summaries of

State v. Tjernagel

Court of Appeals of Iowa.
Jan 11, 2017
895 N.W.2d 922 (Iowa Ct. App. 2017)

finding prejudice where "the State's case . . . rested entirely on the credibility of the witnesses . . . [t]here was no physical evidence of the alleged abuse and no witnesses other than the complaining witness," and "the expert witnesses' vouching testimony here 'was pervasive—not just a single statement'"

Summary of this case from In re C.W.

finding prejudice where "the State's case . . . rested entirely on the credibility of the witnesses . . . [t]here was no physical evidence of the alleged abuse and no witnesses other than the complaining witness," and "the expert witnesses' vouching testimony here 'was pervasive—not just a single statement'"

Summary of this case from State v. Simonich

concluding trial counsel breached an essential duty in failing to object to expert testimony "indirectly vouching for [a child's] credibility and truthfulness"

Summary of this case from Bitzan v. State

concluding counsel was not ineffective in failing to object to expert's testimony because "[h]er use of statistics at trial and comments that 'most disclosures' or 'most children do not tell right away' were not comments on whether children lie about sexual abuse, but rather, comments about when children typically disclose sexual abuse"

Summary of this case from Simpson v. State

discussing recent vouching precedent

Summary of this case from State v. King
Case details for

State v. Tjernagel

Case Details

Full title:STATE of Iowa, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Jill TJERNAGEL, Defendant-Appellant.

Court:Court of Appeals of Iowa.

Date published: Jan 11, 2017

Citations

895 N.W.2d 922 (Iowa Ct. App. 2017)

Citing Cases

State v. Simonich

In sex-abuse cases where the State's case rests on a witness's credibility, improper vouching is prejudicial.…

State v. King

An expert may testify generally about victim behavior, including delays in reporting events and why…