DES MOINES – A Mason City man’s drug conviction was upheld earlier this month by the Iowa Court of Appeals.
Eddie D. Seals, age 56, was found guilty by a jury in Cerro Gordo county court on Sept. 13, 2012 on a charge of felony D possession of marijuana, third or subsequent offense.
Seals appealed his conviction, arguing his counsel was ineffective and the evidence did not support a conviction. The iowa Court of Appeals returned a ruling and explanation of its finding on November 6th, 2013.
According to court records, on December 8, 2011, police tracked a robbery suspect to Eddie Seals’s apartment. The suspect, Joshua Winders, was found taking a shower in the apartment’s bathroom and was apprehended. Police waited in the living room of the one-bedroom apartment with Seals until a search warrant was obtained.
Upon a search of the residence, police found clothing belonging to Winders on the bathroom floor, as well as cash from the robbery hidden in the toilet tank. In Seals’s bedroom, police found an electronic scale, two glass pipes used for smoking methamphetamine, and a .28 gram baggie of marijuana, which were located on the dresser. Inside the dresser police found prescription medication and paperwork belonging to Seals. In the bedroom closet police also found two glass methamphetamine pipes, straws, and a baggie in a fanny pack.
On top of the television in the living room police found two more pipes, one of which was for methamphetamine and the other for marijuana.
Seals was arrested following the search of the apartment. The State filed a trial information on December 15, 2011, charging Seals with possession of marijuana as a third or subsequent offender. On February 6, 2012, the trial information was amended to charge Seals with being an habitual offender pursuant to Iowa Code sections 902.8 and 902.9(3) (2011). The case proceeded to trial on September 11, 2012, and the jury returned a guilty verdict on September 13. He was sentenced to serve a minimum of 3 years of a 15 year maximum sentence.
The appeals court through out all of Seals’ arguments, saying that “We also find there was sufficient evidence for a reasonable jury to conclude Seals knowingly possessed the marijuana.”
