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 Mar. 15, 2023 2:24 pm968d ago
A Cedar Rapids woman and Davenport man will be tried together in the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old. Both cases have nearly all the same witnesses, a prosecutor said.
Crime & Courts Mar. 14, 2023 12:59 pm969d ago
Former state trooper who struck compliant motorcyclist during traffic stop in 2017 was sentenced to two years of probation for using excessive force.
Crime & Courts Mar. 13, 2023 4:27 pm970d ago
A retired University of Iowa music professor faces 25 years for distributing meth that resulted in a death and possessing thousands of photos and videos of child pornography.
Community Mar. 13, 2023 6:15 am970d ago
Applications for matching grants for art projects displayed in Iowa City are being accepted now through March 24.
Crime & Courts Mar. 13, 2023 11:56 am970d ago
Iowa is facing a severe shortage of contract lawyers willing to represent indigent defendants, meaning the 562 lawyers still taking those cases sometimes face “grueling” caseloads. That number is almost a 50 percent decrease since 2014.
Crime & Courts Mar. 9, 2023 4:25 pm974d ago
A prosecutor asked for delay in the March 28 trial for Timothy Rush, who is accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend and another man and also seriously injuring others April 10 inside the Taboo Nightclub and Lounge. Two key witnesses to the prosecution’s can’t testify later this month.
Crime & Courts Mar. 6, 2023 5:00 am977d ago
A retired federal prosecutor and a Drake law professor say the fatal stabbing of Devonna Walker don’t meet requirements for a hate crime or murder because the man who stabbed Lavonna Walker was reacting to being attacked.
Crime & Courts Mar. 3, 2023 4:35 pm980d ago
Alexander Jackson was sentenced to 3 consecutive life sentences for killing his father, mother and sister in June 2021 in their northeast Cedar Rapids home He declined to make a statement during the Friday sentencing hearing.
Crime & Courts Mar. 3, 2023 1:30 pm980d ago
Alexander Jackson, convicted of killing his parents and sister in 2021, faces three life sentences.
Crime & Courts Mar. 2, 2023 5:26 pm981d ago
Trial is reset to April for one Fairfield teen accused of beating their Spanish teacher with a baseball bat in 2021. The trial is expected to last 10 days.
Crime & Courts Mar. 2, 2023 1:23 pm981d ago
A judge set a $1 million cash only bond for a Cedar Rapids man charged in the beating and fatal stabbing of Dennis First in 2007.
Crime & Courts Mar. 1, 2023 5:57 pm982d ago
A 42-year-old Cedar Rapids man will be charged Thursday for the 2007 cold case murder of Dennis First, 64. The two men lived in Hawthorne Hills Apartments in southwest Cedar Rapids in 2007. First was beaten and fatally stabbed.
Crime & Courts Mar. 1, 2023 9:40 am982d ago
A Cedar Rapid man and his wife had a previous run in with Devonna Walker in December and he should have known using a racial slur would provoke a violent response.
Crime & Courts Feb. 28, 2023 5:22 pm983d ago
The Iowa Attorney General’s Office has asked the Iowa Supreme Court to review an appeals court decision that overturned a Marion man’s second-degree murder conviction for fatally stabbing Chris Bagley in 2018.
Crime & Courts Feb. 28, 2023 5:19 pm983d ago
A Cedar Rapids man faces charges he bashed his brother in the head with a cigarette roller after the other brother stabbed him with a box cutter. One brother’s injuries left a blood trail outside the Linn County Courthouse and Jail.

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