IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 17-0837
Filed February 21, 2018
STATE OF IOWA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
vs.
CHARLES SMITH,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, Timothy J. Finn,
Judge.
A defendant appeals asserting there is a lack of evidence to support his
conviction. AFFIRMED.
Mark C. Smith, State Appellate Defender, and Shellie L. Knipfer, Assistant
Appellate Defender, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Kyle P. Hanson and Tyler J. Buller,
Assistant Attorneys General, and Sarah Keely, Student Legal Intern, for appellee.
Considered by Vogel, P.J., and Potterfield and Mullins, JJ.
2
VOGEL, Presiding Judge.
Following a bench trial on the minutes, Charles Smith appeals his conviction
for accessory after the fact, in violation of Iowa Code section 703.3 (2017). He
asserts the evidence was insufficient to prove he “harbor[ed], aid[ed], or
conceal[ed] the person who committed the offense, with the intent to prevent the
apprehension of the person who committed the offense”—the third element of the
crime of accessory after the fact. See Iowa Code § 703.3.1
Sufficiency-of-evidence claims are reviewed for the correction of errors at
law. State v. Ortiz, 905 N.W.2d 174, 179 (Iowa 2017). We consider all of the
evidence viewed “in the light most favorable to the State, including all reasonable
inferences that may be fairly drawn from the evidence.” Id. at 180. A verdict of
guilty is upheld when it is supported by substantial evidence. Id. “Evidence is . . .
substantial if, when viewed in the light most favorable to the State, it can convince
a rational jury that the defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” Id. (citation
omitted).
Smith agreed to a bench trial on the minutes of testimony. It is reasonable
to deduce from the minutes of testimony that Smith was a passenger, sitting behind
1
Iowa Code section 703.3 provides:
Any person having knowledge that a public offense has been committed
and that a certain person committed it, and who does not stand in the
relation of husband or wife to the person who committed the offense, who
harbors, aids or conceals the person who committed the offense, with the
intent to prevent the apprehension of the person who committed the
offense, commits an aggravated misdemeanor if the public offense
committed was a felony, or commits a simple misdemeanor if the public
offense was a misdemeanor.
Smith does not contest the sufficiency of the evidence to support the first two elements of
the crime—he had knowledge a public offense was committed and knowledge of who
committed the offense. We will thus address only the third element.
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the driver, of a vehicle in Ames, when the passenger-side occupants of that vehicle
fired two guns into a crowd of people, injuring three in the early morning hours of
February 19, 2017. Police exchanged gunfire with the occupants of the vehicle,
and the vehicle drove away. Approximately one hour later, that same vehicle
arrived at the Fort Dodge hospital. Smith exited the car and assisted the
passenger-side occupants into the hospital so they could receive medical care for
their gunshot injuries. Smith reentered the vehicle with the driver and left once the
injured occupants were inside the hospital, approximately three minutes after
arriving. The vehicle, riddled with bullet holes, was then driven to the Budget Host
Inn hotel where it was abandoned. Smith and the driver then walked to a college
dormitory where Smith resided. Officers searched the dormitory, and Smith and
the driver were discovered in a room that was not rented to Smith. When
interviewed by police, Smith admitted being in the car but denied shots were fired
from the car, denied seeing any guns, and denied seeing any blood or knowing
where the passenger-side occupants had been shot. Smith denied participation in
the shooting and denied seeing or hearing anything.
Smith maintains on appeal that simply being a passenger in a vehicle that
is involved in a drive-by shooting and assisting injured friends into a hospital is not
sufficient to support a conviction for accessory after the fact by aiding the persons
who committed the offenses. However, the minutes of evidence contain additional
information.
When viewed in the light most favorable to the State, we conclude there
was sufficient evidence in the record to prove Smith aided the passenger-side
occupants with the intent to prevent their apprehension by assisting them into a
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hospital located one hour away from where the shooting occurred, then hiding the
vehicle in a hotel parking lot, concealing himself in a dormitory room that did not
belong to him, and finally, lying to the police regarding the events of that night upon
his arrest. Because substantial evidence supports the guilty verdict, we affirm
Smith’s conviction and sentence.
AFFIRMED.