New trial for Nicholas Luerkens may be set for December

CEDAR RAPIDS - The retrial of Nicholas Luerkens, convicted in the fatal stabbing of his former girlfriend in 2015, may be set for early December.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Mitchell Turner and lawyers discussed possible trial dates Tuesday during a case management hearing after Luerkens, through his attorney, waived his right to speedy trial within 90 days.

Turner said he would issue an order after he consults with court administration regarding available trial dates.

In June, the Iowa Supreme Court denied further review of an appeals court decision to overturn Luerkens' first-degree murder conviction in the fatal stabbing of Lynnsey Donald, 29, in the Marion Hy-Vee parking lot on April 21, 2015.

Luerkens was sentenced to life in prison without parole. He was recently transferred to the Linn County Jail for this hearing or possibly pending trial.    

The Iowa Court of Appeals ruled in May that Luerkens, 35, should have a new trial because the judge should have allowed the jury to consider an insanity defense.

Turner ruled during the trial that Luerkens' defense hadn't submitted sufficient evidence to present the insanity claim to the jury.

Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden told the judge the witnesses and Donald's family members had been notified about the new trial and the prosecution is prepared for the retrial.

Two of Donald's family members were present in the courtroom Tuesday but declined to make a statement following the hearing.   

Webb Wassmer, Luerkens' attorney at the hearing, said the Luerkens' family may be hiring another attorney and would make that decision later this week. Wassmer said the other attorney may be a 'package deal” with a new expert witness, who would testify about Luerkens' mental state, but the expert is overseas and no decision has been made. If the family decides not to hire the other attorney, Wassmer will represent Luerkens.

Assistant Linn County public defenders, David Grinde and Sarah Hradek, represented him the first time.

Turner asked if the defense would be asking for a change of venue - transferring the trial to another county - since it was previously tried in Linn, but Wassmer said he didn't plan on it but added that he couldn't speak for the other attorney.

Wassmer said the only difference in this retrial, regarding evidence, would be a new expert witness.

Evidence at the 2015 trial, including a surveillance video of the attack, showed Luerkens stabbed Donald 32 times. He ambushed her in the parking lot as she was holding the hand of her 7-year-old son, who saw the stabbing and ran to his home. Luerkens then turned the knife on himself, saying he was going to jail and wanted to die, witnesses testified.

Iowa Court of Appeals Judge Amanda Potterfield, who wrote the May opinion, cited the accounts of Luerkens' parents regarding their son's mental state declining when he started taking Paxil, a drug prescribed to treat depression.

A family friend who was a mental health worker also recommended that Luerkens be committed for psychological treatment based upon his behavior before the murder.

Testimony also was presented that Luerkens suffered from clinical depression and severe alcohol use disorder. Toxicology reports showed that he had cocaine, amphetamine, methamphetamine, alcohol, THC and methorphan in his system at the time of the killing, the ruling states.

In its appeal argument, the prosecution presented evidence that Luerkens was aware of what he had done and the consequences of his actions.

Prosecutors argued Luerkens' premeditation was spelled out in a 'to do list” included in his journal, detailing his desire to kill Donald before the day of the crime, and cited an officer's testimony that Luerkens seemed 'lucid and coherent” when he spoke to him at the scene and in the hospital. Other witnesses also testified that Luerkens admitted to killing Donald after he stabbed her.

In the application to the court for further review, Assistant Iowa Attorney General Aaron Rogers argued there's no question that Luerkens was mentally ill when he killed Donald, because he suffered from major depression. However, Rogers argued, Luerkens' depression didn't make him delusional or unable to understand the nature and quality of his actions or the difference between right and wrong, which is required to meet the legal standard for insanity.

Rogers said the appeals court focused on evidence suggesting Luerkens was mentally ill and not on evidence to prove Luerkens' illness caused him to meet the legal standard of insanity.

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