State v. Simpson

• Docket Number: 22-0334
• Decision Date: 20 December 2023
• Parties: STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. DEAARON JACQUIA SIMPSON, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: Iowa Court of Appeals

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STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
DEAARON JACQUIA SIMPSON, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 22-0334

Court of Appeals of Iowa

December 20, 2023

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Monica Zrinyi Ackley, Judge.

A criminal defendant appeals his convictions for domestic abuse assault causing bodily injury and assault causing serious injury.

Chris Raker of Alliance Law Office, P.C., East Dubuque, Illinois, for appellant.

Brenna Bird, Attorney General, and Genevieve Reinkoester, Assistant Attorney General, for appellee.

Heard by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Buller, JJ.

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BULLER, JUDGE.

A jury found DeAaron Simpson guilty of domestic abuse assault causing bodily injury and assault causing serious injury for beating his live-in girlfriend. On appeal, Simpson claims a variety of errors, nearly all of which are waived or unpreserved. We affirm.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings

Twenty-two-year-old S.M. moved out of her parents' home and into Simpson's apartment. S.M. had been close with her family but virtually cut ties with them after moving in with Simpson.

A few months after she moved, S.M. sent a message to a family group-text with her mother, father, and one of her brothers:

Please do not respond..Add Steve to this group [as] well I need help getting my stuff out of here because I am in a very controlling abusive relationship....DO NOT FUCKING RESPOND. First stop is to jump my Jeep because it is dead

S.M.'s mother called the police, and she and S.M.'s father drove to where they believed S.M. was living with Simpson.

S.M.'s mother showed police the message, and they knocked on the apartment door. S.M. answered, and police observed her to be "visibly upset," "crying," and "scared," with "bruises to her face and eyes and looked to be assaulted." Body-camera footage corroborated that description, as did S.M.'s family.

S.M., through tears, told police Simpson assaulted her the night before and "this happened more than once." She said Simpson punched her in the face, head, hand, and body multiple times with closed fists. And she explained that injuries to

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her hands were from holding them in front of her face for protection while Simpson punched her. Police later opined the injuries were consistent with "defensive wounds."

S.M. described "yelling" and "begging" for Simpson to stop beating her. But she said Simpson only stopped because her dog Lucky started barking. S.M. emphasized she did not want law enforcement involved or charges filed. She told one officer she wasn't "pressing no charges" because she "wasn't a snitch."

With S.M.'s permission, police entered the apartment and found Simpson sleeping. After waking, Simpson denied assaulting S.M. but confirmed she was his live-in girlfriend. He told police "I don't hit women," and officers arrested him.

S.M.'s family took her to the hospital, where she told medical providers she was there because of a "domestic" and she "got beat up by [her] partner." Medical records documented S.M.'s reports of pain, significant bruising and swelling, and a fractured left hand.

The Dubuque County Attorney charged Simpson by trial information with one count of domestic abuse assault causing bodily injury, a serious misdemeanor in violation of Iowa Code section 708.2A(2)(b) (2021), and one count of assault causing serious injury, a class "D" felony in violation of Iowa Code section 708.2(4). A no-contact order prohibited contact between Simpson and S.M.

S.M. did not cooperate with police or prosecutors in the lead-up to trial. She eventually gave a discovery deposition, in which she claimed to not recall the attack and admitted she was pregnant with Simpson's child, apparently conceived in violation of the no-contact order. The State chose to not call S.M. as a witness at trial, and Simpson tried to subpoena her without success.

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Simpson eventually offered S.M.'s discovery deposition into evidence, and the court admitted it over the State's objection. There was a disjointed back-and-forth over whether the text-message S.M. sent her family would be included because it was a deposition exhibit. The court ultimately admitted the entirety of the discovery deposition, including the exhibit.

Simpson testified in his own defense. Because Simpson told police he did not "hit women" on a video shown to the jury, the...