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 Nov. 22, 2023 8:19 am715d ago
A judge Tuesday sentenced Alfred Younes, 49, to five years in prison for helping his son, Ali Younes, 20, avoid prosecution for robbery and trying to kill a woman last year on the UI campus and escape to Jordan. His wife also was sentenced to five years for helping their son.
Crime & Courts Nov. 21, 2023 12:03 pm716d ago
A former Solon and Clear Creek Amana softball coach pleads guilty to sex abuse of 14- or 15-year-old student in 2006-07. James Anthony White, 59, faces a suspended sentence and will serve probation. Sentencing judge will determine length of probation.
Crime & Courts Nov. 20, 2023 1:49 pm717d ago
A former legal assistant filed a lawsuit last week against Linn County, Linn County Attorney Nick Maybanks and an assistant prosecutor for sexual harassment and retaliation.
Health & Wellness Nov. 20, 2023 1:05 pm717d ago
Daughter says she slowly lost her father who was a “brilliant” doctor and pilot to a “cruel disease” — Alzheimer’s, which “robs people of their dignity” and every they loved doing in life. Her father died in May.
Crime & Courts Nov. 17, 2023 4:53 pm720d ago
A local developer is accused of stealing home improvement materials from Menards in Marion. The incident was captured on the store’s surveillance video.
Crime & Courts Nov. 17, 2023 12:07 pm720d ago
A former therapist at the Iowa State Training School had sexually explicit phone calls with a teen assigned to her and they talked about having sex while he was on a home visit from the school, records show.
Crime & Courts Mar. 25, 2025 5:48 pm226d ago
The second Fairfield teen, Jeremy Goodale, convicted for killing a high school Spanish teacher in 2021, was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole after 25 years. Willard Miller was sentenced to a 35-year mandatory minimum in August in Nohema Graber’s slaying. The judge said he thought Goodale was genuinely remorseful, unlike Miller.
Crime & Courts Nov. 17, 2023 8:50 am720d ago
The first day of a two-day sentencing for Jeremy Goodale, 18, who killed a Fairfield High Spanish teacher in 2021, revealed more details of her brutal beating with a baseball bat. Goodale told police hit struck her five times with the bat, after Willard Miller, 18, hit her three times.
Crime & Courts Nov. 13, 2023 5:24 pm724d ago
Chief state medical examiner testified 71-year-old woman’s head and facial injuries were consistent with blunt force trauma - being beaten by her son in 2020. She died from a pulmonary embolism, which ultimately resulted from the assault.
Crime & Courts Nov. 9, 2023 3:07 pm728d ago
A judge sentenced a Cedar Rapids man to 102 years in prison for sexually abusing two children. The girls were abused from the time they were each 10-years-old -- one for over the course of six years. The prosecutor called them brave for breaking their “silence” and speaking out. He hopes their story would encourage others.
Crime & Courts Nov. 8, 2023 7:17 pm729d ago
Doctors testified that Elsie Deason, who died less than a month later after being assaulted by her son, had bleeding in different areas of her brain and her condition was higher risk because she had been on blood thinners. Her son, George Deason, is on trial this week for fatally assaulting her in 2020.
Crime & Courts Nov. 8, 2023 1:08 pm729d ago
A 15-year-old was waived in adult court for attempting to kill a 17-year-old when a fight broke out during a basketball game in August. The 15-year-old fired 11 times at the other teen, striking him 4 times.
Crime & Courts Nov. 7, 2023 7:52 pm730d ago
A Cedar Rapids woman said she found her mother hiding under a bed comforter after being severely beaten by her son. The daughter said her mother’s eyes were swollen shut, clumps of her hair were missing and she had bruising all over.
Crime & Courts Nov. 7, 2023 7:41 pm730d ago
A Cedar Rapids man pleaded to throwing and slamming his infant onto the floor because the 19-day-old wouldn’t stop crying in 2021. He faces up to 50 years in prison and must serve 30 to 70 percent before being eligible for parole.
Crime & Courts Nov. 6, 2023 7:56 am731d ago
Emily Leonard’s family says no amount of prison would be enough for the man who fatally beat their loved one with a metal rod, causing her death in April 2022. A Linn County jury found Arthur Flowers, 62, charged with first-degree murder, guilty of voluntary manslaughter. Flowers on Friday was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

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