Brown appeals conviction in Iowa City murder

Brandon Brown has already fulfilled the promise he made at his sentencing this week to appeal his first-degree murder conviction.

According to online court records, Brown has appealed his November 2013 conviction for the June 21, 2012 murder of Donelle Lindsey in Iowa City. Brown was sentenced to life in prison on Monday, the automatic sentence for first-degree murder.

Brown was accused of killing Lindsey on June 21, 2012, in Iowa City. Testimony showed Lindsey had spent the day with his friend, DiMarco Harris, at an apartment complex on Petsel Place on Iowa City's west side. Brown had spent the afternoon with his friend, Byron Fisher.

The four men converged sometime around 11:26 p.m. that day. Harris' and Fisher's testimony offered different accounts of what came next, but both men agreed that Brown shot Lindsey several times at close range. A medical examiner testified Lindsey was shot five times, with two of the bullets piercing Lindsey's heart, liver and kidney.

A third state witness, Nicole Blosser, testified she drove Brown to Chicago the night of the shooting and heard Brown confess to shooting Lindsey.

During a lengthy address to both Lindsey's family and the Judge Marsha Bergan, Brown maintained his innocence and questioned how he could be convicted, in part, by the testimony of witnesses who gave inconsistent accounts of the night of the shooting.

"It's just okay for everyone to lie and just get a conviction," Brown said at his sentencing.

Additionally, Brown - a black man - said he couldn't get a fair trial from the predominantly white jury that heard the case.