Trial will be reset for Cedar Rapids man accused of killing woman with board

CEDAR RAPIDS — The trial for a Cedar Rapids man accused of fatally assaulting a woman with a board didn’t start this week because he waived his right to a speedy trial after a judge denied his lawyers’ request to withdraw from the case.

Arthur Flowers, 62, charged with first-degree murder, told the judge at a previous hearing, after being uncooperative and telling this lawyers he didn’t trust them, that he wanted to go to trial Feb. 14, with those lawyers.

Last Friday, Flowers’ lawyer, Nekeidra Tucker, said they received information that could be important to the case and wanted to continue the trial, over Flowers’ objections, to allow them to look into the additional evidence.

Assistant Linn County Attorney Jordan Schier resisted this request, arguing the prosecution may lose the opportunity to try Flowers if the court allows his lawyers to waive a speedy trial over Flowers’ objection.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Fae Hoover asked Flowers if he wanted to go ahead with the trial Feb. 14. After he expressed frustration about being in jail since his arrest April 2, Hoover took a recess to allow Flowers to discuss this with Tucker and Adrian Haughton, his other lawyer.

When the hearing resumed, Flowers agreed to waive the speedy trial and signed a written waiver, according to Hoover’s order. He then reasserted his speedy trial right — meaning the trial has be tried by May 16.

Hoover, in her order, said she would check with court administration and select a new trial date.

Flowers was found incompetent last July by a psychiatrist at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center in Coralville.

He was sent for treatment and found competent in January to be tried in the fatal assault of Emily Leonard, 22, of Cedar Rapids, on April 2, 2022.

Flowers called 911 on April 2, and when officers arrived after 6 p.m. at his home in southeast Cedar Rapids, he told them a woman, later identified as Leonard, had overdosed on heroin.

According to a criminal complaint, Flowers initially attempted to leave when officers arrived but then took them to a bathroom where they found Leonard with “obvious head injuries and blood spatter all over the bathroom.” The woman’s clothing was in disarray, and police said they found a bloodied 1-by-6-inch board, which investigators believed was the murder weapon, the criminal complaint stated.

Flowers provided details about the incident that were not consistent with the crime scene, police said. He also appeared to have blood on his hands and was wearing “what he described as” Leonard’s pants when officers arrived, the complaint stated.

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