Iowa Supreme Court upholds overturning of Justin Marshall murder conviction

DES MOINES - The Iowa Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a court of appeals ruling overturning the first-degree murder conviction of Justin A. Marshall, accused of killing landlord John Versypt during a robbery gone bad in 2009.

The decision means Marshall, who remains incarcerated at Anamosa State Penitentiary, is likely to receive a new trial.

In its 4-3 decision, the Supreme Court ruled the judge during Marshall's 2013 trial should not have allowed Antonio Martin - a cellmate of Marshall's at the Muscatine County Jail - to testify because Martin had an agreement with federal authorities to provide information about Marshall in exchange for a reduced sentence.

Associate Supreme Court Justice Brent Appel, writing for the majority, said Martin elicited incriminating statements from Marshall for authorities, which violated Marshall's right to have an attorney present during questioning.

Martin had an agreement to provide information to police and had experience on what authorities wanted and even took notes of Marshall's confession, the court stated.

Martin told Marshall 'tell your side of the story if you're going to get a lesser charge.” The court said this was a 'classic police interrogation technique.” Martin isn't just a 'passive listener to a heartfelt confession.”

Marshall, 25, was convicted Feb. 6, 2013, of first-degree murder after police said he attempted to rob Versypt on Oct. 8, 2009, and ended up shooting him in the hand and head. Versypt, 64, was a landlord in the Broadway Condominium complex, now called Orchard Place, on Broadway Street in southeastern Iowa City.

The appeals court in 2015 overturned the conviction, saying another jail inmate's testimony against Marshall shouldn't have been admitted at trial.

In his dissenting opinion, Associate Justice Edward Mansfield said Marshall's case could be resolved by 'common sense, precedent and basic constitutional principles.”

A defendant who volunteers incriminating statements to a fellow inmate isn't deprived of his rights just because that inmate has agreed to cooperate with authorities as part of a plea agreement for a lesser sentence, Mansfield added.

He said a jail isn't a 'pristine” environment and inmates run the risk that they might be sharing confidences with 'snitches.”

Mansfield said he fears the Supreme Court decision threatens to harm legitimate law enforcement efforts in Iowa. Under this opinion, anyone who cooperates with the federal authorities as part of a plea deal, which is fairly common, becomes a 'roving agent” to help the state.

Mansfield also said the majority opinion overlooks many facts of the case. Several witnesses placed Marshall at the location where Versypt was killed, gunshot residue was found on Marshall's jacket and Marshall's statements to police were 'highly inconsistent” and revealed details about Versypt's death not known to the public.

The case now heads back to the district court in Iowa City for a new trial.

Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness said Thursday 'my plan is to retry the case.”