State v. Chapman
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The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the district court ordering Defendant to register as a sex offender after he entered an Alford plea to child endangerment, holding that the evidence was insufficient to prove sexual motivation beyond a reasonable doubt under Iowa Code 692A.126 and that the proper remedy was to remand and give the State an opportunity to prove sexual motivation.
The district court relied on Defendant's Alford plea and a victim impact statement from the child victim's mother to find that Defendant's underlying conduct was sexually motivated. The court ordered Defendant to register as a sex offender. The court of appeals remanded the cause, finding that victim statements do not provide sufficient evidence that the offense of conviction was sexually motivated beyond a reasonable doubt but that the minutes of testimony identified evidence to establish that the offense could have been sexually motivated. The Supreme Court affirmed the court of appeals, vacated the order requiring Defendant to register as a sexual offender, and remanded, holding that, under the circumstances, the State is allowed to introduce the facts from the minutes in an effort to support its request that Defendant be required to register as a sex offender.
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