Mason City man gets away with attempted burglary and stealing truck
MASON CITY – A Mason City man who took a person’s truck without permission after trying to break into that person’s home had felony theft and burglary charges dismissed on September 28th.
According to Mason City police, on May 26th, 2012, 18-year-old Murtaza Ahmed of Mason City tried to gain access to a home in Mason City and after failing to get in, he entered a truck parked in the resident’s driveway, started it up and drove away.
The resident followed Ahmed and while cooperating with police, Ahmed was taken into custody without incident and transported to the Cerro Gordo County Jail. Ahmed was charged with second degree attempted burglary, theft in the second degree and operating while intoxicated. The theft and burglary charges are both class D felonies. The OWI charge is a serious misdemeanor. Ahmed posted $5,000 bond using North Iowa Bonding and was released.
On July 19th, Mason City attorney Richard Piscopo Jr. entered a notice of “defense of justification and intoxication.”
On August 24th attorney Richard Piscopo Jr. motioned the court to reduce the felony motor vehicle theft to a lesser charge of operating without owner’s consent. A hearing on the motion and a plea change were scheduled for September 28th.
At the hearing, Assistant County Attorney Steven D. Tynan entered an application that the felony 2nd degree attempted burglary and felony 2nd degree theft of a motor vehicle be dismissed rather than reduced as previously motioned by attorney Richard Piscopo Jr.
Presiding District Court Judge Christopher C. Foy approved Assistant County Attorney Steven D. Tynan’s request and dismissed both felony charges.
Judge Foy then handed down a deferred judgment for the OWI charge, assessing a $1,250 penalty against Ahmed before suspending $625 of the penalty. Judge Foy ordered Ahmed to serve one year of probation with no jail time. In addition, Ahmed must perform 40 hours of community service.
Under a deferred judgment, if Murtaza Ahmed complies with the terms of his probation with the Iowa Department of Corrections the OWI will be stricken from his record.
He’s a good kid who had too much to drink and thought he was at his house no harm was done
Ya, right. And he thought it was ok to be that stinkin’ drunk and drive someone else’s truck. He’s damned lucky he didn’t kill someone else, let alone himself.
It isn’t up to the victim to let the person charged to go free.If the accused broke the law, they should be prosecuted. If they didn’t, they should go free. Just because the victim chooses to drop the charges does not mean the person is innocent. Then again, perhaps I don’t understand the Mason City legal system as well as I should. But then again, I am not so sure I really want to.
I thought Mr. Tynan was pretty clear about this: “In order to convict Murtaza Ahmed of the burglary charge, the State would need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was breaking into the building to commit a theft, assault, or felony.
To convict him of the vehicle theft, we would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt he specifically intended to keep the vehicle PERMANENTLY.”
In such cases, the burden of proof is upon the prosecutor. If a judge or jury do not find sufficient is evidence, there is no conviction. It’s the same in all courts in all jurisdictions.
In reflection, I have to ask if those who were up in arms over this judicial action have now tempered their opinions in the wake of Mr. Tynan’s comment on the case.
Burglary and car theft charges dropped and even OWI will be removed from his record…Unbelievable! Must have something to do with his relatives, they own Sid’s, North liquor… His nickname is “TAZ”.
The alleged victim, who is Murtaza Ahmed’s neighbor, asked to dismiss ALL of the charges. Specifically, he wrote, “I want to drop these charges because I thought he was trying to break in. He wanted to find his home and was mixed up because he was intoxicated. He had the wrong house.” See
However, the County Attorney’s office refused to dismiss the OWI. The dismissal order clearly states that dismissal is AT THE VICTIM’S REQUEST. See
Those documents are public records at the Clerk of Court’s office. You can also see copies of them at https://www.facebook.com/media/set/edit/a.10151456230106110.588048.792266109/#!/media/set/?set=a.10151456230106110.588048.792266109&type=3
In order to convict Murtaza Ahmed of the burglary charge, the State would need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was breaking into the building to commit a theft, assault, or felony. To convict him of the vehicle theft, we would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt he specifically intended to keep the vehicle PERMANENTLY. With even the victim prepared to testify that Murtaza Ahmed did not have those specific intents because he was too intoxicated, that would have been impossible.
Your explanations are appreciated.
Great to see you post on here. Thank you for your explanation. Wish Daylen would have the nerve to answer his critics on here like this. That day will never happen..
I am guessing this is one of those cases that, unless you know the exact proceedings of the court, it is hard to understand what happened based only on the outcome.
I am willing to bet this happens in a number of cases. We see the results, but not the evidence or pleadings.
Mr Tynan,
This explains one case of the many you let get away on a daily basis.
Can you explain this one, http://northiowatoday.com/?p=35822.
I would be interested to know why so many charges like those listed below were dropped and this drug dealer got probation. Are there some letters from the school principal asking to drop the charges?
One class C felony count of delivery of crack cocaine within 1,000 feet of a school.
One class C felony count of delivery of cocaine within 1,000 feet of school.
One class C felony count of delivery of methamphetamine within 1,000 feet of school.
One serious misdemeanor count of possession of crack cocaine.
One serious misdemeanor count of possession of cocaine.
One serious misdemeanor count of possession of marijuana.
Your lack of effort at your position has turned our community into a crime ridden ghetto.
The next election for County Attorney will be in November 2014.
If they are the only ones on the ballot how do we vote them out. I think that we need someone new in there too, but I think they get voted in because that is all to choose from.
Look at who his relatives are. They just threw money at one of the best lawyers around and this is what happens. If you have money you walk.
I agree with LVS
Judge Foy has no backbone at all. I’ve seen him give visitation to proven child abusers because “a child needs both parents” This guy would give Charles Manson visitation with his kids.. something is wrong with him
He looks to me ,he might be here illegally
And why would you think that? Because of the color of his skin? His hair? Because of his name?
That and his charges.
This is just sad. What does it teach our children – crime pays!!! I have heard it has been said you put one person in and one gets out. Does anyone have any “real” ideas on how to make things change. Letting go of the OWI on his record is just wrong.
The least the judge could have done was to demand alcohol treatment.
Hasn’t he had enough “alcohol treatment”.
What do you expect? This is Mason City, we have Judge Weiland, and now these gentlemen seem to follow suit. Matt, what is our recourse to remove these imcompetants from office? Please either tell us how to do it or at least give us some leads to follow to tell us how to do it. Thank you.
Apologies. Meant to type “incompetants”. Hmmm, perhaps it’s catching.
Yeah, if this story would’ve mentioned Judge Weiland, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see a criminal get off scott-free.
It’s very disappointing to see the rest of the judges follow her disappointing judicial decisions.
When these judges are put up for election, is there anyway to question their stance and philosophies?? The current bench needs to be cleared.
All of the attorneys and judges in this case are completely worthless. I feel bad for the homeowner that cooperated with the police, and then to have this scumbag running free again.
How do we get rid of these county attorneys and judges??? This is just wrong. How could any judge believe this is a good decision?????
Great Job-What does it take to get rid of our County Attorney’s. Only in Cerro Gordo can you steal a truck and drive it drunk, get caught red handed by the victim and the police and get off with getting your hands slapped. No wonder crime is so high here. There is no punishment.