A Des Moines man's bid to have his life sentence for murder vacated will move forward.
Polk County Judge Don Nickerson last week denied a motion by prosecutors in the case of David Flores, convicted in 1997 of killing bank executive Phyllis Davis in a gang-related shootout.
The judge's decision means the 31-year-old Flores, who has spent 11 years behind bars, could have his conviction reconsidered before the end of the year.
It also means Flores' defense will be allowed to proceed with its strongest argument. That argument is based on Des Moines police acknowledging in June that they failed to turn over to Flores' trial attorney an FBI report that pointed to an alternative suspect, Rafael Robinson.Prosecutor Joe Weeg had argued that a newly found police report downplayed evidence of an alternative suspect. But a legal assistant for John Wellman, Flores' original defense attorney who is now deceased, told Nickerson that Wellman never had that police record.
In the ruling last week, Nickerson sided with Flores and denied the state's request for a partial summary judgment.
"We just want the case to move ahead now," said Mary Kennedy, Flores' Waterloo defense attorney.
The high-stakes case is similar in some respects to that of Heidi Anfinson, another convicted murderer who was granted a new trial last week by the Iowa Supreme Court. Like Flores, Anfinson appealed for post-conviction relief, arguing that she received inadequate defense in the drowning death of her two-week-old son Jacob.
Her new defense attorney, Alfredo Parrish, argued successfully that her original attorney, Bill Kutmus, should have submitted evidence of post-partum depression at her trial.
Anfinson lost her post-conviction case at the district and appelate-court levels but won on appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court. In a rare move, the Supreme Court ruled that evidence of her mental health problems would have aided her defense.
Experts in wrongful conviction cases have said it's extremely rare for a judge to overturn a murder conviction, but Flores' appeal for post-conviction relief is compelling. As his controversial bid for freedom nears, however, tensions among those with a stake in the case are rising.
Kennedy has said in court that a key witness has been moved several times by the California corrections system, making communication difficult.
A spokesman for the Iowa Department of Corrections also has acknowledged that Kennedy has been blocked from speaking to another witness, who is behind bars, unless she has a court order.
Corrections spokesman Frank Scaletta said the unusual move was made on the recommendation of the Iowa attorney general's office, which sometimes assists county prosecutors in post-conviction cases.
Last month, vandals shattered the car and house windows of David Flores' mother on East 13th Street.
Diane Flores and other family members said it's possible she could have been a random victim, or targeted for other reasons, but they doubt it.
"We think it's because of David," she said.