Opinion
No. 4-766 / 03-2086
Filed February 9, 2005
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clinton County, David H. Sivright, Jr., Judge.
Dawin Jetter appeals the judgment entered upon his conviction for willful injury causing serious injury. AFFIRMED.
Linda Del Gallo, State Appellate Defender, and Tricia Johnston, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Bridget Chambers, Assistant Attorney General, Michael L. Wolf, County Attorney, and Gary P. Strausser, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.
Considered by Vogel, P.J., and Miller and Eisenhauer, JJ.
Based on an incident in which Doris Lazelle was beaten, causing her jaw to be broken, the State charged Dawin Jetter with willful injury causing serious injury and assault causing serious injury. After the court rejected a plea agreement due to Jetter's failure to admit he had the specific intent to cause serious injury, the case proceeded to trial. Following that trial, the jury found him guilty of willful injury causing serious injury, in violation of Iowa Code section 708.4(1) (2003).
On appeal, Jetter maintains there was insufficient evidence to convict him of willful injury causing serious injury. In particular, he claims the State did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he intended to cause serious injury. He does not dispute that a serious injury, in fact, occurred.
We review this claim for errors at law. State v. Thomas, 561 N.W.2d 37, 39 (Iowa 1997). A verdict will be upheld where there is substantial evidence to support the charge. State v. Robinson, 288 N.W.2d 337, 340 (Iowa 1980). In reviewing this question, we view the record in a light most favorable to the State, including legitimate inferences and presumptions which may fairly and reasonably be deduced from the evidence in the record. State v. Wheeler, 403 N.W.2d 58, 60 (Iowa Ct.App. 1987).
We conclude the record contains substantial evidence from which a jury could conclude Jetter acted with the specific intent to cause serious injury to Doris Lazelle. Lazelle testified that after declining his request for sex, Jetter hit her with his fist three to four times in the side of the jaw while telling her he was going to kill her. She claimed that every time he hit her and knocked her to the ground, she would get up and he would hit her again. As a result of the beating, Lazelle suffered a fractured jaw, which required surgery causing her jaw to be wired shut for approximately one month.
The jury was instructed that serious injury "is a bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious permanent disfigurement or extended loss or impairment of the function of any bodily part or organ."
Two witnesses to the incident, Renee Drury and Paula Ladehoff, testified that Jetter, apparently without provocation, stuck Lazelle approximately six times with both his fist and his open hand. They both testified that Jetter yelled at Lazelle that he was going to kill her. Another witness, Melissa Hopkins, characterized Jetter's demeanor during the beating as "very tense, aggravated, and upset." Finally, even Jetter admitted that he "slapped her twice and hit her once," characterizing what he did as a "cold-cocking." He further admitted that he was "really . . . ticked off."
Accordingly, because we conclude substantial evidence supports the jury's conclusion that Jetter acted with the specific intent to cause serious injury to Doris Lazelle, we affirm his conviction.