Iowa AG asks high court for review of Marion man’s overturned murder conviction

The Iowa Attorney General’s Office has asked the Iowa Supreme Court to review an appeals court decision that overturned a Marion man’s second-degree murder conviction for fatally stabbing Chris Bagley in 2018.

First Assistant Linn County Attorney Monica Slaughter said the further review application was filed last week and allows Drew Blahnik, who changed his name after trial to Johnny Blahnik Church, to resist the review.

The Iowa Court of Appeals overturned the conviction earlier this month and Blahnik Church was given a new trial.

If the justices accept the appeal for review, there’s no timeline for how long they can take to reach a decision, Slaughter said. The court could ask for oral arguments or just accept written arguments and make a ruling. The review could be considered in the current term, which ends in June, or the term that starts in September, she said.

If the court doesn’t grant further review or upholds the appeals court decision, Slaughter said Blahnik Church will be tried a second time.

The appeals court ruled the trial judge abused his discretion in asking the jury to continue deliberations when jurors revealed, in a note, “open hostility toward a lone holdout juror.”

The court ruled that 6th Judicial District Judge Christopher Bruns shouldn’t have given a supplemental instruction after receiving notes from the jury. Bruns had urged jurors, who deliberated for three days, to reach a unanimous verdict despite the conflict.

“Because the minority juror knew the court was aware of the split and the majority jurors’ hostility, that juror may well have viewed the supplemental instruction — in response to the third note — as directing the minority to join the majority,” the appeals court stated.

The court also noted that the trial judge should have referred the jury to its original instruction on deliberations, instead of giving a supplemental one.

Bruns, in his ruling denying Blahnik Church’s motion for a new trial before sentencing, said after both formal and informal discussion with the prosecution and defense, he had provided a jury instruction previously approved by the appellate courts. He thought the instruction would be less likely to cause one juror to view it as an attempt to exert pressure for changing a position, Bruns wrote.

However, the appeals court said defendants have a “fundamental right” to have a jury trial “determined by an unanimous verdict.” Blahnik Church’s “right to the verdict of all the jurors was prejudiced.” The court reversed and remanded the case for a new trial.

Blahnik Church, 35, was convicted of second-degree murder, abuse of a corpse and obstruction of prosecution. He was sentenced to 57 years in prison.

Blahnik Church remains in jail because he is also serving time on federal drug charges and Linn County charges for beating up a witness while in jail.

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