State of Iowa v. Melvin Lucier, 15-2009

Defendant Melvin Lucier appealed convictions for three counts of second-degree sexual abuse of a child.
Alleged victim (S.D.) was under 12 at the time of the offending and 11 at trial.
Before testimony, the district court conducted a competency colloquy to assess the child’s ability to distinguish truth from lies.
Lucier argued the colloquy failed to establish the child could identify the truth (challenging competency).
The district court found the child competent and credited her testimony and diagrams identifying body parts and acts, concluding at least five sex acts occurred within the charged timeframe.
On appeal the court reviewed competency for abuse of discretion and factual findings for substantial evidence, and affirmed the convictions and sentence.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Lucier)	Held
Competency to testify	Court’s colloquy showed the child could differentiate truth and lies; she was competent.	Colloquy was inadequate because it showed only ability to identify a lie, not the truth.	Court affirmed competency finding; no abuse of discretion.
Sufficiency of evidence for sexual acts	Child’s testimony and diagrams provided substantial evidence of multiple sex acts meeting statute definition.	Testimony and questioning were vague/ confusing as to contact, dates, frequency; insufficient detail.	Court held testimony was sufficiently specific and credible; substantial evidence supported convictions.

State v. Andrews, 447 N.W.2d 118 (Iowa 1989) (sets out test for child competency to testify)
State v. Steltzer, 288 N.W.2d 557 (Iowa 1980) (error-preservation principles for appellate review)
State v. Taylor, 596 N.W.2d 55 (Iowa 1999) (court may overlook preservation defects in certain circumstances)
State v. Brotherton, 384 N.W.2d 375 (Iowa 1986) (standard of review for competency rulings)
State v. Hearn, 797 N.W.2d 577 (Iowa 2011) (substantial-evidence standard for fact findings)
State v. Martens, 569 N.W.2d 482 (Iowa 1997) (victim testimony need not be highly specific to support sexual-abuse finding)
State v. DeWitt, 811 N.W.2d 460 (Iowa 2012) (weight given to credibility determinations by factfinder)