RAP SHEET

Operator: 911 . . .

Caller: Um, somebody just started my car on fire.
O: Where do you live at?
C: Northwest 50th Street
O: OK, hold on here, I'm going to go ahead and start the fire department.
C: OK, I need the police here, too, because they stole from me and...
O: Hang on here, just a minute, OK? Do you have any idea who would do that?
C: No, they stole from my house. I had some lawn chairs and a bike outside and we heard them stealing my stuff and so we came outside. And we went back and looked at my car and they were trying to rip the license plate off my car and I was just like, "What the hell?" I was like, "Get a life," you know? They must have been sitting outside, like waiting and listening, you know? So we went back in my house and I heard something again and we came outside and I saw them pull out. I saw the car, it was a white Hyundai...
O: A white what?
C: A white Hyundai. Like, a really new one. It was super nice. One of my neighbors saw the car, too. And I ran around the corner and they were peeling out and then my freaking car was on fire. They started my car on fire. Two guys who live in my apartment complex put it out, but still, like, what the hell?
O: The fire department'll come and put it out, OK?
C: I'm really scared. I have no idea who these kids are.
O: OK, calm down.
C: They know where I live and stuff, you know?
O: I understand, I understand. Well, we've got the fire department called to make sure the fire's out in your car, OK? What did they set on fire?
C: My car. My whole freaking car. I couldn't even see it. My car was on fire.
O: OK, hang on here. You mean the inside?
C: No, like, the outside. They freaking started it on fire. The outside of my car was burning. I don't know what the fuck they did.
O: What kind of car you got?
C: A Ford Taurus.
O: What year, honey?
C: Um, '93.
O: OK, I'm going to go ahead and let you go. I've got the police coming and the fire department, OK?
C: OK, thanks.

Officer's Report: I talked to Dana who told me that she got home from work around 0200 and was relaxing and watching a movie. Around 0300 hours they heard a noise outside and went to check it out. She said some bikes and lawn chairs were missing, but they didn't care about that. Dana looked at her car and noticed that the rear license plate had been folded up like someone was trying to break it off. Dana said she yelled, "Look, they're trying to steal my plate off my car." Dana didn't see anyone and said that just in case anyone was around. About 10 minutes later she heard another noise and went outside and saw her car on fire.

Docket Diving

Pamela Newman wanted an expert to take the stand and tell the jury that, in her case, women are the weaker sex.

When Waterloo fire officials arrived at Newman's home in January 2002, it was quickly apparent to them that the blaze that ripped through her kitchen was intentionally set with the help of an accelerant. At the scene, Newman claimed she had been sewing in the living room, went to the bathroom and, when she emerged to find the kitchen inexplicably on fire, she might have kicked over a gas can as she dashed out of the house. At the police station, though, she changed her tune, saying it was Darryl Speller - a man who had been living with her since 2001 but whom she had asked to leave months before the fire due to his smoking crack cocaine - who had pinned her to a corner of the kitchen for hours, doused her with gasoline and set the house ablaze.

Despite the pair of explanations, Newman was charged with arson and, at trial, a third story emerged. Speller's brother, who arrived on the scene just before the flames, testified that the couple was fighting and, when Darryl told Newman their relationship was over, the accused arsonist dropped her cigarette on the floor and began shaking a gas can around the room. That story fit with the testimony of the Waterloo police chief, who noted that, had the fire happened as Newman reported, she would have been far more severely burned in her sprint from the bathroom to the front lawn. Faced with such evidence, the jury convicted Newman of first-degree arson, and the judge handed down a 25-year prison sentence.

But Newman appealed, arguing the jury hadn't gotten the full story from independent fire investigator John Woodland. While the Waterloo chief told the jury the fire was just as likely set by a woman as by a man, Woodland had a different opinion. "I believe the profile of the fire scene is indicative of an act committed by a man, and not typically the act of a woman," Woodland's report explained. "The violence of the act, and the volume and type of fuel required to cause the level of damage observed, implies a confidence in and understanding of the fuel, not typically portrayed by women. "But while the judge allowed Woodland to testify as to the cause, spread and burns caused by the fire, he determined that "it would invade the province of the jury" if Woodland were given free reign to discuss the psychological profiles and gender statistics in arson cases. Newman, however, argued that the court abused its discretion when it excluded Woodland's full testimony and, that exclusion, sparked questions worthy of a new trial.

In addressing her claims, the court of appeals turned to a similar case handled by the Iowa Supreme Court. In that instance, Appeals Judge P.J. Huitink explained, the justices ruled that allowing an expert to testify that a defendant does or does not fit a certain profile "clearly goes beyond ordinary character evidence. It comes cloaked with an aura of scientific reliability about the predisposition of certain individuals to commit the type of crime at issue." Therefore, Huitink extended, Woodland's profile testimony would constitute an "improper comment" on Newman's guilt or innocence. As such, the court of appeals upheld Newman's conviction last week, deciding that the district court was right in ruling out the gender profiling.

Sucks to be you

Name: James Doyle
Place of Incident: Des Moines
Posed for this picture because:
Apparently looking to satisfy a craving for something other than a sandwich, James Doyle sat down at a table in a North Side Subway for only a moment before allegedly stabbing a patron multiple times in the torso without provocation. Following the assault, Doyle reportedly demanded at knife-point the car keys of another patron, took the man's vehicle and led the police on a 50-block car chase before being taken into custody only after his car flipped over. Doyle was arrested last week on two counts of first-degree robbery, attempted murder, eluding police and driving with a suspended license.

Unfinished Business

The following individuals owe the City of West Des Moines for overdue parking tickets:

- Syverind Halvorson of West Des Moines owes $100 for a ticket issued July 23
- Ryan Breckenridge of Des Moines owes $100 for a ticket issued Aug. 6
- Peter Gimba of Des Moines owes $100 for a ticket issued Aug. 6
- Lacy Reed of Des Moines owes $100 for a ticket issued Aug. 27
- Rosalie Ballard of Des Moines owes $100 for a ticket issued Aug. 27
- Anne Iversen of Pleasant Hill owes $100 for a ticket issued Sept. 2
- Derek Knudsen of Des Moines owes $50 for a ticket issued July 23

On the Clock

Des Moines Police - Oct. 12

1:28 a.m. Attempted burglary in the 2700 block of University Avenue, involving a rock thrown at the window of P&P Small Engine, causing the glass to "spider" but not break. Entry was not gained.
3:30 a.m. Burglary in the 1700 block of 24th Street, involving a man returning to his home after one month in jail and discovering several individuals in his residence. The victim did advise a female friend to watch the residence, however, she was not given the keys to the home and was told only to watch the exterior.
4:10 a.m. Burglary in the 2800 block of Ingersoll Avenue, involving a motion alarm tripped at Star Bar, a window forced open on the north side of the building, but nothing discovered missing by the owner.
9:25 a.m. Burglary in the 2600 block of Grand Avenue, involving an office door pried open and suspects rifling through business drawers and cabinets at TalentLink, and Lundquest, Schiltz and Associates.
12:20 p.m. Domestic assault causing injury on Indianola Road, involving a woman hit in the leg and hip with a metal bar by a boyfriend after an argument.
12:30 p.m. Burglary in the 2300 block of East Walnut, involving a victim returning home for lunch to find the front door wide open and the theft of seven gold and diamond rings valued at $5,000, two necklaces valued at $1,500, eight credit cards, one book of unused checks and one set of spare car keys.
1:20 p.m. Violation of a no-contact order in the 800 block of Southeast County Line Road, involving a woman called three times by suspect shortly after he had been served with a no-contact order the previous day.
1:30 p.m. Domestic assault on Douglas Avenue, involving a woman punched in the face and top of her head when she opened the door of her residence to allow a boyfriend she had asked to move out to retrieve some clothes.

(Alleged) Drunk Drivers

Name: William Martin Rogers
Arrested: Oct. 11
Third offense

Name: Jeramie Lee Tracy
Arrested: Oct. 13
Second offense

Name: John MacCurtis Temple
Arrested: Oct. 13
First offense

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