State of Iowa v. Tyree Lee Young, 16-0154

Background

Defendant Tyree Young assaulted his wife: struck her multiple times with a belt causing welts and pain; the wife later had sex with him and initially reported both the belt assault and that he had put his hands around her throat making it hard to breathe.
Police observed marks consistent with the wife’s statements; photographs were taken showing red marks on her back and a mark on the left side of her neck.
At trial the wife recanted the strangulation allegation, testified she lied to the officer, and claimed the neck mark was a hickey from consensual sex; she also requested charges be dropped and canceled a no-contact order a month later.
Young was charged with three counts of domestic abuse assault (strangulation, use/display of a dangerous weapon, and assault causing bodily injury); count II (dangerous weapon) was dismissed; jury convicted on counts I (strangulation/impeding breathing causing injury) and III (bodily injury).
Young moved for a new trial arguing the strangulation conviction was against the weight of the evidence due to the victim’s recantation; the district court denied the motion and the court of appeals affirmed.
Young also challenged the sentencing court’s taxation of court costs for the dismissed count; the court of appeals held Young failed to show any costs were clearly attributable to the dismissed count and affirmed the costs assessment.

Issues

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the strangulation conviction was against the weight of the evidence	State: jury could credit victim’s out-of-court statements and physical marks corroborated those statements	Young: victim’s in-court recantation made the strangulation verdict unsupported by greater weight of credible evidence	Court: affirmed — jury could disbelieve recantation; evidence supported verdict
Whether district court abused discretion in denying new trial based on weight-of-evidence	State: district court reasonably concluded evidence supported verdict; credibility is for jury	Young: district court should have granted new trial because evidence preponderated against strangulation verdict	Court: no abuse of discretion; not an extraordinary case warranting new trial
Whether court could assess costs for a dismissed count	State: costs may be the same regardless; only costs clearly attributable to dismissed count must be removed	Young: Petrie requires proportional apportionment; he should pay only costs for convicted counts or proportional share	Court: affirmed — Young failed to show any assessed costs were clearly attributable to dismissed count or over-assessed
Whether remand for corrected sentencing form is required	State: any discrete costs tied to dismissed count should be removed on remand; otherwise no change	Young: sentencing order illegally taxed costs for dismissed count and requires correction	Court: no remand — record shows costs would have been the same and Young did not prove over-assessment

Key Cases Cited

State v. Reeves, 670 N.W.2d 199 (Iowa 2003) (standard of review for weight-of-evidence new-trial motions)
State v. Ellis, 578 N.W.2d 655 (Iowa 1998) (definition of verdict contrary to weight of evidence)
Tibbs v. Florida, 457 U.S. 31 (U.S. 1982) (weight-of-evidence framework cited)
State v. Shanahan, 712 N.W.2d 121 (Iowa 2006) (trial court discretion in new-trial weight-of-evidence decisions)
State v. Lopez, 633 N.W.2d 774 (Iowa 2001) (exception where testimony is so implausible it may be treated as nullity)
State v. Tharp, 372 N.W.2d 280 (Iowa Ct. App. 1985) (upholding denial of new trial where victim’s recantation was not credible)
State v. Petrie, 478 N.W.2d 620 (Iowa 1991) (allocation of court costs when some counts are dismissed)
State v. Johnson, 887 N.W.2d 178 (Iowa Ct. App. 2016) (applying Petrie categories for court-cost apportionment)
State v. Musser, 721 N.W.2d 758 (Iowa 2006) (jury role in resolving credibility and weighing evidence)
State v. Nitcher, 720 N.W.2d 547 (Iowa 2006) (jury discretion to assess witness credibility)
State v. Thornton, 498 N.W.2d 670 (Iowa 1993) (jury free to believe or disbelieve testimony)
State v. Blair, 347 N.W.2d 416 (Iowa 1984) (jury function to sort evidence and determine credibility)