State of Iowa v. Kent Anthony Tyler III, 2016 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 6

Background

A crowd of teenagers surrounded Richard Daughenbaugh at a riverside party; Kent Tyler struck the first punch that knocked Daughenbaugh to the ground. Others then kicked and stomped Daughenbaugh, who died from a torn mesentery (internal abdominal injuries).
Tyler admitted being at the party but denied participation in the beating; he was charged with first-degree murder (severed trials with co-defendants) and acquitted of first-degree but convicted of second-degree murder.
Jury was instructed on three theories: principal (individual) liability, aiding and abetting, and joint criminal conduct. The verdict was a general guilty verdict for second-degree murder.
Tyler appealed, arguing insufficient evidence to support any of the three theories and challenging admission of a witness (B.B.) testifying she expected a fight based on prior encounters with Tyler and his associates.
The Iowa Supreme Court held substantial evidence supported principal liability (causation) and aiding-and-abetting theories, but not the joint criminal conduct theory; because of the general verdict, the Court reversed and remanded for a new trial. The Court affirmed admission of B.B.’s prior-act testimony.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Principal liability / causation	Tyler's punch was a but-for cause of death because it knocked victim down and created helplessness that led to lethal stomping	Causation is attenuated; the fatal blows were inflicted by others, so Tyler's initial blow did not legally cause death	Substantial evidence supports but-for and proximate causation under Restatement (Third) principles; principal liability could be submitted to jury
Aiding and abetting	Tyler’s punch in a crowd that encircled the victim constituted encouragement; presence and circumstances support assent/encouragement	Tyler did not actively participate or encourage the fatal assault and (per one witness) walked away after punching	Sufficient circumstantial evidence (presence, conduct, surrounding circumstances) supports conviction as aider and abettor for second-degree murder
Joint criminal conduct	State: group surrounding could show concerted action and the fatal beating was a foreseeable furtherance of an initial joint assault	Tyler: no substantial evidence of a preexisting plan or that the first assault was a joint crime	Evidence insufficient to prove the first assault was a joint crime (too speculative); joint criminal conduct instruction improperly submitted; necessitates new trial because of general verdict
Admission of prior bad acts (B.B.)	Prior observations that Tyler and associates fought before were probative of Tyler’s knowledge/intent and admissible under Rule 5.404(b)	Testimony was prejudicial propensity evidence and should have been excluded	District court did not abuse discretion: testimony probative on knowledge/intent and not substantially outweighed by unfair prejudice; admission affirmed

Key Cases Cited

State v. Tribble, 790 N.W.2d 121 (Iowa 2010) (adopted Restatement (Third) causation principles for criminal cases)
State v. Hennings, 791 N.W.2d 828 (Iowa 2010) (applied but-for causation where motive caused defendant to act)
State v. Adams, 810 N.W.2d 365 (Iowa 2012) (applied Tribble’s causation framework to DUI death case)
Griffin v. United States, 502 U.S. 46 (1991) (general verdicts and the problem of jurors relying on legally inadequate theories)
State v. Smith, 739 N.W.2d 289 (Iowa 2007) (limits on conflating aiding-and-abetting and joint criminal conduct; need first joint crime)
State v. Rodriguez, 804 N.W.2d 844 (Iowa 2011) (joint criminal conduct where defendant participated in one crime and a second foreseeable crime occurred in furtherance)
Thompson v. Kaczinski, 774 N.W.2d 829 (Iowa 2009) (adopted Restatement (Third) tort causation guidance)
State v. Garcia, 616 N.W.2d 594 (Iowa 2000) (discussed limits of attenuated causation in criminal context)
State v. Hogrefe, 557 N.W.2d 871 (Iowa 1996) (reversed general verdicts when at least one theory lacked evidentiary support)
State v. Ceretti, 871 N.W.2d 88 (Iowa 2015) (distinguishes malice aforethought from specific intent to kill)