RAP SHEET

Operator: 911 . . .

Caller: Yeah, I want to report a break-in on Northeast 27th Street. [mumbling]... he broke my windows out... [mumbling]...
O: OK, do you need an ambulance?
C: Yeah. No, I don't need no ambulance. But I got my fucking lip broke open. He punched me in the lip twice. [mumbling]... fucked up bad.
O: OK, what is your name?
C: My name's Julie. [inaudible arguing with someone on the scene]. He needs to go to jail right now...
O: Well, he's not going to jail, unless you're taking him to jail, because the police aren't there yet. Julie? Julie?
C: Yes, ma'am?
O: OK, let's not talk to anyone there. I'm trying to...
C: He needs to go to jail right now.
O: OK, I understand what you want. I'm trying to get information from you so I can get the police officers over there quicker, OK? And you're not cooperating with me, OK? Is there anybody?
C: I need somebody out here now to take Jack to jail.
O: Julie?! Is there any weapons?
C: No. There's no weapons.
O: Just his fists, huh?
C: And he busted the windows on my house. He [mumbling]... fucking home.
O: I don't need to listen to that language. Has anyone been drinking?
C: Yeah, we all been drinking.
O: Where's this guy at that hit you? Julie, where's this guy...?
C: He's Jack... [yelling on the scene]... You know what? I want the police to come here and take him to jail.
O: OK, I understand that. But I'm trying to get information from you and you're talking to everyone else behind you. Right now I'm more important than them behind you, OK? Where is this male subject that hit you at? Is he inside?
C: He's Jack. He busted me in the fucking mouth twice... Me and Tim came home to my house. He's fucking walking out my driveway. I walk up to my door and my fucking [inaudible] is busted out. And instead of calling the police I walked down there and he fucking busted me in the mouth. OK? My fucking mouth, my lip is fucked up. He busted me in the mouth twice... You know what, he needs to go to jail. He's an idiot.
O: OK, they'll come out and find out what's going on and...
C: No, I want the police to be here now ...
O: Well, I understand that, but the police don't sit on the corner waiting for your call.
C: I want this motherfucker to go to jail. This is the third mother-fucking time... I need to go to the hospital. I need to get some fucking stitches in my fucking lip...
O: Do want me to send somebody out there to check you out?
C: No, I can't fucking afford this shit. But, you know what? That mother-fucking punk? I want him ... He broke the window out of my home...
O: OK, what you need to do is go outside and make yourself known because the police officers are there looking for you.
C: OK, I'm outside. Hey! Hey...
O: OK, I'm going to let you go if the officers are there taking care of it.
C: Thank you.
O: Uh, huh. Bye.

Docket diving

Yes, the jury was flawed. But, no, there will be no new trial. Such was the ruling of the Iowa Supreme Court this month, in taking a second look at the case of the unsafe golf course. Five years ago, Richard Summy sued the City of Des Moines when an errant golf ball from the first tee struck him in the eye as he played on the 18th fairway at Waveland Golf Course. Arguing that the city was negligent in the design of the course and liable for the accident that left him partially blind, Summy won a hefty financial judgment from a Polk County jury.
But the city appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court, arguing, in part, that the district judge violated the law when she tossed local property owners from the jury panel. Summy argued that, given "the severe nature of his injury" and the potential for a pricey verdict that could "result in substantially higher taxes," it was only fair to exclude from the jury those who could be directly impacted by their decision. But the Iowa Code, Supreme Court Justice Marsha Ternus pointed out, is clear: "When selecting a jury in a trial in which a municipality is a defendant, a juror challenge based on the potential juror's status as a taxpayer of that municipality shall not be allowed unless a real, substantial, and immediate interest is shown which would unfairly prejudice the plaintiff." Because Polk County Judge Schemmel failed to "require the plaintiff to show a real, substantial, and immediate interest of the rejected jurors, but rather excused all city property owners... based simply on their status as taxpayers," Ternus noted the district judge had engaged in a clear "abuse of discretion."
But just because the exclusion was an error doesn't necessarily mean the city had cause for a new trial, Justice Ternus noted. For another swing at Summy's suit, they'd need to prove the sub-par jury resulted in prejudice, and Justice Ternus pointed out that the city had made no claim that the jury was unfit or biased. "The City has not demonstrated, nor even claimed, that the trial court's error forced the City to leave an objectionable juror on the jury," she explained. "In the absence of such a showing, we cannot find prejudice. Therefore, the trial court's exclusion of Des Moines property owners from the jury, while an abuse of discretion, did not result in reversible error."
Of course, that assessment wasn't a unanimous decision. In a sermon-like dissenting opinion, Justice Mark Cady charged that the majority's ruling "seriously undermines the basic democratic ideals responsible for the strength of, and confidence in, our American jury system." The question of bias is beside the point, Cady said, because "it is not the role of courts to... systematically remove groups from the community that our legislature has seen fit to include." After all, he added, if that ruling were deemed the prevailing logic, "a judge could systematically exclude all women from the jury as long as the men selected would be fair and impartial. This is a barbaric concept, which the prejudice standard was never intended to sanction."
But, with the majority backing the district court, the $200,000 judgment against the City of Des Moines was upheld earlier this month with Cady as the lone vociferous voice in a
5-1 decision.

Sucks to be you

Name: Danny Rankins
Place of Incident: Des Moines
Posed for this picture because: When a man wearing a ski mask and demanding money walked into an Arby's just after 11:30 p.m., a quick-thinking employee told the robber she'd turn off the alarm and, instead, rushed to an adjacent tavern to call the cops. With a description of the vehicle and suspect, the police later discovered a similar car nearby and, though the passenger fled on foot, the driver, Danny Rankins, was booked for first-degree robbery. Authorities also suspect that Rankins could be involved in a number of the 27 robberies that have been reported in the metro since the start of the year.

Unfinished business

According to the City of Des Moines, the following owe fees associated with being referred to the Housing Appeals Board for persistent rental code violations:

-- General Corner LLC and Larry Smithson owe $394.50 for previous violations at 319 Court Ave., due in January 2004.
-- Dale Terry owes $6,210 for previous violations at 1340 Clark St., due in October 2005.
-- Jody Eastman owes $5,943 for previous violations at 2414 Drake Park Ave., due in August 2005.
-- Jose Diaz owes $5,748.80 for previous violations at 1445 Sixth Ave., due in April 2005.
-- Robert Wright owes $5,733 for previous violations at 1527 Forest Ave., due in August 2005.

On the clock

Des Moines Police - Jan. 18

1:24 a.m. Burglary in the 2400 block of Southwest Ninth Street, involving a victim asleep in his bedroom when he awoke to the sound of someone in the kitchen. The victim "yelled at the suspect and the suspect left running west, down the apartment hallway." Though the victim "explained that he did not have his glasses on so he was unable to get a better description of the suspect," he believed it was a male juvenile wearing a red jacket. The victim discovered a jewelry box that had been on his bedside table had been moved to the kitchen, but he could not immediately identify anything missing.

3:50 a.m. Burglary in the 1800 block of Ingersoll Avenue, involving a brick thrown through the front door of G&L Clothing. Review of surveillance tape revealed two white males breaking the window, entering the store and taking several Carhartt jackets.

3:30 p.m. Burglary in the 2800 block of Indianola Avenue, involving a victim returning home to discover the kitchen cabinets open, clothes removed from the bedroom closet and thrown on the floor, M&Ms candy strewn across the living room floor, a radio alarm clock taken from the top of the TV, a hand-painted picture removed from the wall, and a cell phone charger missing. Due to the nature of the burglary and the fact that the door had not been damaged, the victim reported that she suspected a former boyfriend who she alleged, "deals crack, ice and marijuana. He got her hooked on drugs. She stated he also pimped her. She stated she agreed to have sex four times for $50 each time [in the 2400 block of Southeast Seventh Street]." The victim had no other suspects.

4 p.m. Assault in the 7000 block of Bloomfield Road, involving a male juvenile who reported that on Jan. 13 he had been jumped by two male schoolmates, who pushed him to the ground and punched him in the stomach several times.

4:13 p.m. Burglary in the 4000 block of Hubbell Avenue, involving the theft of an 30-gallon fish tank, tank accessories and golf clubs from a garage. Because they reportedly had locked the door, the victims believed the suspects "came through the open rafters of the garage" to gain entry.

6:23 p.m. Burglary in the 1200 block of Clark Street, involving a victim who was "pulling up to her house tonight when an unknown black male came running out her front door carrying the DVD player." Also taken were a video camera, a set of earrings, one bracelet and seven rings.

7:10 p.m. Assault with a motor vehicle in the 3100 block of University Avenue, involving a Kia Sportage with blue pinstripes that pumped $25.09 worth of gas at a Kum & Go and then attempted to leave without paying. When a gas station employee went to confront the suspects about the unpaid fuel, "the vehicle sped off at a high rate of speed, hitting [victim] with the passenger side, knocking him to the ground. "Gas station attendants noted that they had video of one of the suspects inside the store and possibly of the vehicle at the pump.

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