Compiled by Bethany Kohoutek bethany@dmcityview.com

Dispatcher: 911…
Caller: …A gentleman just wrecked his four-wheeler in a cornfield, and he’s laying out here in my ditch.
D: OK. Is he conscious and breathing?
C: He’s conscious, but blood is coming out of the front of his shirt [yelling and crying in background].
D: Tell him to stay there. We’re tripping medics out there right now.
C: I’m going to stay right here with him. He’s got blood coming out of his nose, too.
D: How old is he?
C: He just turned 21 today.
D: Is he lying flat?
C: Yes, on his stomach.
D: Tell him not to move. … Where does he hurt the most?
C: His lower back.
D: Tell [him] not to move his neck or his back, OK? Tell him to just lay in that position and don’t move until the medics get there. They can put him on a backboard.
C: [In the background: “I can’t breathe!”]
D: He’s having difficulty breathing now? … Just keep talking to him. Try to keep him calm. He’s probably going into a little bit of shock…. You’re doing an awesome job. We’re going to have a deputy, OK? You’re doing an awesome job. You’re trying to keep him calm.
C: [In the background: “Oh my god. I can’t move.]
D: Do you hear the police?
C: Yeah, they’re here.
D: I’m going to hang up with you since the deputy is there. You did a great job.
C: Thank you.

Officer’s Report: I was dispatched… reference a four-wheeler accident. Upon arrival I made contact with [the victim] and he told me that he had had an accident on his four-wheeler and it had flipped on top of him, hurting his back. [The victim] went on to say that he thought that he might have broken his back in the accident. I asked [the victim] where the ATV was, and he said that it was down in the cornfield. The four-wheeler was found. … It appeared that [the victim] was traveling eastbound when he lost control of the four-wheeler. I asked [the victim] how he got from where the ATV was found to where he was now, and he said that he had walked. I contacted a family member and told them what had happened and where we were at. [The victim was transported to the hospital] by Midwest Ambulance Service. I couldn’t read the VIN for sure on the ATV. I had dispatch contact the DNR, because the ATV was on private property, and the DNR said that they wouldn’t take the accident report unless the four-wheeler was on DNR property. [The ATV] was secured in the tower gate area until the detectives could take a closer look at the four-wheeler.

Docket diving

“Is skinny dipping a form of sexual behavior?”

That is the question the Iowa Supreme Court recently asked itself, as the state’s highest bench considered the appeal of a Johnson County man convicted of third-degree sexual abuse. It’s a case that is testing the boundaries of Iowa’s rape-shield law, and one that could have implications for future victims of sex crimes.

On Oct. 19, 2003, a 22-year-old woman identified in court records only as R.M. happened to see her boyfriend’s uncle, 42-year-old Michael John Alberts, at Borrowed Bucks, a Cedar Rapids bar. She had met Alberts at previous family functions. In addition, a few weeks earlier, R.M. and her boyfriend, Jesse, had met up with Alberts at Bucks. That night, R.M. and Alberts danced “in a provocative manner” and smoked pot together — with Jesse present — in Alberts’ semi truck in the parking lot.

On the night of Oct. 19, R.M. split off from her friends and left the bar with Alberts, who drove to his family’s lakehouse. Once they arrived, R.M., who was intoxicated, vomited then fell asleep in a bedroom. When she awoke, she said, Alberts was in the process of sexually assaulting her. She pretended to sleep, she said, until Alberts was finished. Alberts, however, claimed the incident was consensual.

A Johnson County jury convicted Alberts of sexual abuse. Alberts appealed, and his case has climbed to the Iowa Supreme Court, which recently vacated parts of his conviction.

At issue is a skinny-dipping incident involving R.M. that occurred shortly before the alleged rape. While at a party, R.M. allegedly asked Chris Slach, a man she’d never met, to swim with her in the Cedar River. Slach agreed, and the two stripped down and got into the river. Slach later said it seemed like R.M. was “coming on” to him. Slach said he asked R.M. to kiss him, but she turned him down, saying she had a boyfriend.
A few moments later, Jesse’s brother, Josh, spotted Slach and R.M. in the water. R.M.’s arms were around Slach’s neck. In his disposition, Josh said that R.M. came out of the water crying, and said, “Thank God you saw me. I didn’t know what to do out there. … I couldn’t get away from him.” Both R.M. and Slach said that no sexual contact had occurred.

The Johnson County district court barred the skinny-dipping incident from Alberts’ trial. The judge said it fell within Iowa’s rape-shield law, which states that a potential victim’s “past sexual behavior” is not admissible in court. In Alberts’ appeal, he claimed that because no sexual activity had occurred, the incident should be permissible.

When the case reached the Supreme Court, justices opined that “… skinny-dipping in and of itself is not sexual behavior. But in this case, the skinny-dipping incident should be deemed sexual behavior based on the circumstances described.”

The Court decided that R.M.’s alleged comments to Josh, after she climbed out of the water, amounted to a false claim, and “false claims of sexual activity do not fall within the coverage of our rape-shield law.”

The Court ruled that Alberts’ attorneys should have the opportunity to investigate the skinny-dipping matter more thoroughly, which could lead to a new trial for Alberts.

percentage of people in Iowa drug- and alcohol-rehab clinics that are male (based on statistics from 2004).

Sucks to be you

Name: Brian Gilbert
Location: Dallas County
It sucks to be Gilbert because: Brian Gilbert resigned as Dallas County sheriff last week amid allegations that he stole about $120,000 from a crime scene. A recent state auditor’s report also found evidence of other instances of “maladministration” (for example, missing money, drugs and weapons) at the department during his tenure as sheriff. His trial for felony theft is scheduled for November.

Game day attacks

While football scores and statistics have been the big news emanating from college towns this fall, there’s something a bit darker making headlines at one Iowa university around game time. During the past three home-game weekends at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, multiple women (mostly students) have reported being sexually attacked or groped late at night. This past weekend, three more women said they were attacked by a stranger as they walked home or to their vehicles around the downtown area. So far, no one has been arrested.

On the clock

Des Moines Police – Oct. 10

11:29 a.m.
Domestic assault in the 5400 block of Aurora Avenue. A female victim called to report a domestic dispute. When police arrived, they learned that the husband had a weapon, and upon searching, they found a loaded assault rifle underneath the couple’s bed. The husband also allegedly had struck the wife in the head with an object, leaving visible marks. The husband was arrested and charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm.

1:25 p.m.
Burglary in the 200 block of S.E. First Street. The reporting person told police that someone has been taking copper off of spools in a fenced area of the business. Police found a hole cut into the fence, and a pry bar nearby.

3:09 p.m.
Burglary in the 1600 block of Searle Street. The victim reported that his shed had been broken into, as evidenced by a cut padlock dangling from the shed door. Police noted that the door was also bent and dented. Various tools and a paint sprayer had been stolen. The victim believes the suspect also tried to steal his motorcycle, which was parked inside the shed, but was unsuccessful.

9:25 p.m.
Burglary in the 1700 block of Lanyard. The victim returned home to find her front door had been broken. The responding officer spotted a tire iron on the ground inside the door, and a piece of door trim had been knocked loose. Clothes had been removed from a dresser drawer inside one bedroom, and the victim reported missing jewelry, valued at more than $10,000. CV

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