116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Trial bumped 11th time for former Marion man charged with sexual assault of child
This case illustrates why sexual abuse trials are being delayed
Jun. 19, 2025 5:30 am, Updated: Jun. 19, 2025 8:47 am
The Gazette offers audio versions of articles using Instaread. Some words may be mispronounced.
CEDAR RAPIDS — A former Marion man, who is accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a child over three years, was granted another delay of his trial — totaling 11 continuances — since charges were filed in 2021.
The trial for Jason Lee Daniels, 53, charged with three counts of second-degree sexual abuse and one count of possession of a firearm by a domestic abuser, will be reset again because another case had a higher priority to start Tuesday in Linn County District Court.
Daniels is accused of repeatedly sexually assaulting a child between Jan. 1, 2018 and March 7, 2021 in Marion. The child told authorities Daniels had abused her since she was 5 years old. Daniels, if convicted of all sex abuse charges, faces up to 75 years in prison.
Charges were filed in May of 2021 and the trial had been delayed 10 times before for various reasons. His defense has cited, more than once, that depositions need to be taken, additional review of discovery is needed, and in some instances, no reason was provided, according to the case management conference paperwork.
This case is one of numerous Linn County sexual abuse cases that have been lingering in the system for more than a year. A prosecutor’s review of the cases found some — including Daniels’ case — have been pending three or four years.
In April, The Gazette reported Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks and 6th Judicial District Chief Judge Lars Anderson started working on a plan to resolve the backlog in order to provide justice for the defendants and victims in these cases. However, Maybanks and Anderson said it may take some time to accomplish.
In this latest continuance of Daniels’ trial, his lawyer, Eric Tindal, filed a motion on June 11, arguing the trial was fifth on the trial priority list for June 17 — meaning there were four trials with higher priority that day. If all or some proceed, Daniels’ trial would be bumped, which would result in a “significant” loss of money for the defense, Tindal said in his motion.
The defense had expert witnesses coming from out of state to testify, so it would be wasted expense for them to travel to Iowa if there’s little chance the trial would happen.
Additionally, Tindal, as a public defender, has been assigned to a first-degree murder trial in Scott County that starts June 30, which creates “multiple hardships,” he said. Tindal said he would spend time preparing for Daniels’ trial, which may not proceed, resulting in less time to work on the murder trial later this month.
According to court administration, there may be nearly 40 trials scheduled in a week but many will be removed as the trial dates approach because some defendants will plead, trials may be continued, or charges could be dismissed.
As of June 11, there were nine trials set to begin June 17, but some were continued or filed motions to schedule pleas by June 13, leaving only one trial set to start June 17.
The four trials Tindal mentioned in his motion had priority because the defendants were in jail pending a trial or had demanded their speedy trial rights — meaning a trial has to proceed within 90 days of trial information being filed.
Daniels waived his right to a speedy trial and has been out on bail since he was arrested in 2021 on a warrant in Florida. He fled Iowa after learning he would be charged, according to court documents.
After being extradited back to Iowa, Daniels posted a $50,000 bail on June 16, 2021, according to court records.
Sixth Judicial District Judge David Cox granted Daniels’ continuance June 13 based on reasons stated in Tindal’s motion, according to his order. Cox also noted that the prosecution didn’t resist because the prosecutor, Assistant Linn County Attorney Ryan Decker, had another trial on June 17, in which that defendant demanded a speedy trial.
Decker’s trial was the only trial remaining on the docket for June 17 as of last Friday, and it didn’t start Tuesday because the defendant decided to plea.
Judges don’t know all the details when ruling on continuances
Because Judges aren’t specially assigned to sex abuse cases or most other felonies — with the exception of class A felonies like murder — Cox likely did not know the speedy demand case was the only one remaining on the docket for June 17.
Maybanks, in April, pointed out that was one of issues. When sex abuse cases come up for a case management conference, it’s usually a different judge and the status case forms don’t require a lot of details about why a case is being continued.
Maybanks suggested a specialized — separate — docket for the sex abuse cases to get them more efficiently through the system, but Judge Anderson said the court wasn’t going to do that at this time.
However, Anderson, in the April interview, said the court started conducting more frequent case management conferences for the sex abuse cases to help resolve the backlog. He also consulted with the Linn County Attorney’s Office and defense lawyers and they came up with a more detailed status form, asking questions about discovery and specific reasons for a continuance.
On Tuesday, Maybanks said Decker made him aware of the latest delay in Daniels’ trial.
“I’m glad we sounded the alarm on these cases,” Maybanks said. “I think this one demonstrates the issues and problems we are seeing and we have more work to do.”
Maybanks said anecdotally he had heard from the other prosecutors that the more frequent case management conferences have helped and a few of those cases have been resolved.
“They have also provided more opportunities for discussions between the defense and prosecution to explore more resolutions, he added.
Starting Thursday, the court will be tracking the reasons felony trials are continued, Maybanks said. His office started tracking the continuances about three months ago, which is something the district associate court has been doing for some time and it has helped move some cases through, he said.
Maybanks said the most difficult conversations he’s had are explaining to victims of a sexual assault why the trial is delayed again.
“I just tell them that sometimes, this is out of our control but they will have their day in court. They will get justice.”
Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com
Daily Newsletters