U.S. Supreme Court declines to review Iowa City murder case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to review an Iowa City man's 2013 murder conviction after it was overturned on appeal in 2015 and upheld last year by the Iowa Supreme Court.

Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness planned to retry Justin Marshall, 25, for first-degree murder last September, but first asked the Iowa Attorney General to request the review from the high court.

Marshall was convicted of first-degree murder in February 2013 for the Oct. 8, 2009, fatal shooting of John Versypt, 64, at the former Broadway Condominiums. Authorities said Marshall intended to rob Versypt, who was the landlord, but ended up shooting him in the head and hand.

That conviction was overturned by the Iowa Court of Appeals in 2015. The appeals court ruled the testimony of Antonio Martin - one of Marshall's cellmates in the Muscatine County Jail - should not have been included during the trial. Martin had an agreement with federal authorities to provide information on Marshall in exchange for a reduced sentence.

The appeals court found Martin was acting as an 'agent of the state” or for police, and Marshall should have had an attorney present during any questioning by Martin.

Then, last June, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld the appeals court ruling.

A judge suspended the proceedings for the retrial until this review request was decided. The retrial will now go forward. A new trial date has not been set.

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