116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Trish Mehaffey
Reporter covering state and federal courts, and whatever legal issues come my way. I also provide live coverage of criminal trials on Twitter @tmehaffey and welcome comments and questions from readers during the trials. Outside of work I love movies, tennis and my Kansas State Wildcats! Go Cats! Stay informed with the Public Safety newsletter.
Latest Articles by Trish Mehaffey
Crime & Courts Dec. 18, 2025 1:43 pm1d ago
A North Liberty man, who was convicted in Black Hawk and Johnson counties for sexual assaults and robbery, pleaded Thursday to kidnapping and robbery charges in an attempt to sexual assault a woman in Linn County in 2023.
Crime & Courts Dec. 18, 2025 8:12 am2d ago
A former UI machine shop manager who diverted thousands in production from the university to his own similar business was granted a deferred judgment and three years probation. He previously pleaded to first-degree theft and first-degree fraudulent practice.
Crime & Courts Dec. 11, 2025 7:20 am9d ago
Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks said this year, in preparing for the next legislative session, his office has set priorities for changes they’d like to see. He hopes to work with legislators to address the state’s groping laws, invasion of privacy crimes, and rules about examination of public records.
Crime & Courts Dec. 11, 2025 7:26 am9d ago
An Iowa City woman, already charged with providing sex acts to massage parlor clients, is now charged with tampering with a witness. She is accused of trying to influence a victim and his wife not to testify against her.
Crime & Courts Dec. 9, 2025 3:28 pm10d ago
A woman said a Cedar Rapids man, who should have been a “role model and protector” was instead, the person who repeatedly sexually abused her over a two year period when she was 14 and 15 years old. He was sentenced to up to 10 years in prison on Tuesday.
Crime & Courts Dec. 8, 2025 2:00 pm11d ago
A Cedar Rapids woman, who was intoxicated, faces up to 16 years in prison for unintentionally causing the death of a motorcyclist in a head-on crash on Cottage Grove Avenue in October 2023. She pleaded to a lesser charge.
Crime & Courts Dec. 8, 2025 10:53 am12d ago
A judge on Friday convicted an Iowa City man of robbing and trying to kill a woman on the University of Iowa campus in April of 2022. Ali Younes faces up to 60 years in prison.
Crime & Courts Dec. 8, 2025 2:33 pm11d ago
A former IT director received probation and a deferred judgment Thursday for enticing who he believed was a girl under 16 and sending her pornographic photos, video and “hundreds” of messages in a pursuit to have sex with her.
Crime & Courts Dec. 4, 2025 3:51 pm15d ago
The U.S. Marshals Service in Virginia arrested a man Wednesday wanted on several charges of sexual abuse in Linn County.
Crime & Courts Dec. 4, 2025 7:41 am16d ago
A Cedar Rapids man convicted in a 2015 shooting, has been sentenced to 35 years in federal prison for trafficking meth near a school in southeast Cedar Rapids.
Crime & Courts Dec. 3, 2025 4:40 pm16d ago
A Cedar Rapids man was sentenced to over 7 years for possessing gun after he had previous conviction for distributing heroin.
Crime & Courts Nov. 26, 2025 7:40 am24d ago
A mother, during a sexual abuser’s sentencing, said there is “no pain greater” for a parent than knowing their child was harmed, especially by someone they trusted and treated as family. “You didn’t just break the law — you broke hearts and you broke trust.”
Crime & Courts Nov. 25, 2025 5:41 pm24d ago
The city’s housing and nuisance manager pleaded last week to a lesser charge for forging a receipt for pet medications to an insurance company. He received deferred judgment Tuesday.
Crime & Courts Nov. 24, 2025 7:39 am26d ago
A judge will announce his verdict in December for Ali Younes, who is accused of robbing and trying to kill an Iowa City woman on the UI campus in 2022. He faces up to 60 years in prison.
Crime & Courts Nov. 24, 2025 7:47 am26d ago
Megan Hoffman told Logan Kimpton he could have been the “hero of this story” if only he had told police his two friends planned to kidnap, assault and strangle her 22-year-old daughter in February 2024. Instead, he backed out of the plan to save himself.

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