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 Jul. 19, 2024 8:41 am545d ago
A Springville man who was charged last week with burglary for going into his girlfriend’s home without permission, has now been charged with offering her a $10,000 bribe if she drops the charges in the burglary case.
Crime & Courts Jul. 19, 2024 7:18 am545d ago
A Cedar Rapids man, initially charged with sex offender registry violation, has been charged with sex exploitation of a minor. The man contacted a person he thought was a 15-year-old girl for sex but it was actually a police investigator posing as the teen.
Crime & Courts Jul. 17, 2024 4:03 pm547d ago
A Cedar Rapids man, who led police on foot chase after officers found a loaded handgun and marijuana, was sentenced this week to more than 5 years in federal prison. An investigation found he had possessed at least 10 guns since 2018.
Crime & Courts Jul. 17, 2024 7:23 am547d ago
“You are not the victim here,” a judge told a former Linn-Mar assistant track coach after Kameron Beets said his life had been “shattered.” by the sex abuse charges against him. Beets was sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Crime & Courts Jan. 17, 2025 1:13 pm363d ago
Iowa City man sets up fake email and social media accounts under UI police detective’s name to harass and retaliate against him for arresting and then testifying at protesters’ trials.
Crime & Courts Jul. 15, 2024 4:17 pm549d ago
A Cedar Rapids man, charged in four separate Iowa City sexual assaults, pleaded to a lesser charge in one, with another charge dropped along with a drug charge, as part of plea agreement. He pleaded to a second drug charge and faces another five years in prison. He was previously sentenced to 44 years for two other sexual assaults.
Crime & Courts Jul. 12, 2024 5:10 pm552d ago
Judge delays trial by two weeks for Marion who beat four people to death with metal pipe. Trial reset to Sept. 10. Prosecutors had scheduling conflict.
Crime & Courts Jul. 15, 2024 8:37 am549d ago
A judge sentences a West Liberty man to probation for stabbing man in large fight outside an Iowa City bar last year. He pleaded to a lesser charge and was given a deferred judgment.
Crime & Courts Jul. 10, 2024 7:38 am554d ago
A Cedar Rapids man was convicted for unintentionally causing the death of an Iowa City man who was fatally shot outside the H-Bar in 2022. The Iowa City hookah bar is prohibited from being open past 10 p.m., according to a recent court ruling.
Crime & Courts Jul. 9, 2024 7:13 pm555d ago
A prosecutor said the prosecution was unable to provide a confession made by Curtis Padgett, who killed his friend, Dennis First, in 2007, to a witness because the witness died three months before trial. Padgett was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison without parole.
Crime & Courts Jul. 9, 2024 7:23 am555d ago
Pierra Baugh, 34, of Cedar Rapids, pleads to lesser charges in the robbery and murder of Cordal Lewis, 19, in January 2022. She admitted to the planning and carrying out the robbery of Lewis with Kazius Childress, who fataly shot Lewis and was convicted in January.
Crime & Courts Jul. 8, 2024 9:53 am556d ago
A federal judge declared a mistrial when a jury in June deadlocked over whether a K-9 officer used excessive force when he deployed his dog on a 13-year-old boy who was misidentified as being involved in a stolen car incident in August 2020.
Crime & Courts Jul. 8, 2024 10:14 am556d ago
A mother, in her victim impact statement, said losing her son to gun violence is a “‘pain no parent should have to endure.” Cameron Barnes was fatally shot on St. Patrick’s Day last year by Duval Walker Jr. in a Marion bar.
Crime & Courts Jul. 5, 2024 7:27 am559d ago
A federal jury on Wednesday convicted a Marion man for attempting to solicit a 13-year-old girl, asking her to meet him Hiawatha for sex — not knowing he was communicating with an undercover officer posing as a teen.
Crime & Courts Jul. 3, 2024 3:51 pm561d ago
Robins man, along with others, set up underground market to sell access to shipping platform, causing retailers to refund money for items never returned. This resulted in $8 million loss for retailers across the country. They will be prosecuted in Florida for mail fraud and other related charges.

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