Appeal filed to Supreme Court of Iowa in Kasemeier first degree murder case
Brandon Kasemeier ...
The denial of motions made by the defense for a new trial and in arrest of judgment ordered July 7 of this year in Allamakee County District Court in the first degree murder conviction of Brandon Kasemeier of Waukon has been appealed to a higher court, according to court documents filed in the case July 10 by Kasemeier’s attorneys, Erin Carr and Raya Dimitrova of Carr Law Firm, P.L.C. in Des Moines.
In accordance with a defendant’s right to appeal within 30 days of sentencing, Notice of Appeal documents were initially filed for appeal to the Supreme Court of Iowa three days after Iowa First Judicial District Court Judge Alan Heavens denied those motions for a new trial and in arrest of judgment before he sentenced Kasemeier to the mandatory life in prison without the possibility of parole after an Allamakee County jury found him guilty of murder in the first degree. That conviction was handed down May 27 of this year following the shooting death of his estranged wife, Jami Kasemeier, that took place in January 2024 in the home the couple once shared in Waukon.
Although no further details have yet been outlined in the appeal process, according to information posted on the State of Iowa Judicial Branch website, an appeal does not involve conducting trials or hearing new evidence; the appellate court will only review the evidence that was previously submitted in the district court to determine whether legal errors were committed in the rendering of the district court judgment. The opinion rendered by the appellate court represents a collective decision of a majority of the justices or judges, rather than the decision of just one judge.
As the highest court in the State’s judicial system, the Supreme Court of Iowa will decide whether the appeal will remain within the Supreme Court or if it will be transferred for review to the Iowa Court of Appeals, according to further information available on the State of Iowa Judicial Branch website.
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