Mason City car vandal was irate his ex was in bed with another man; loses appeal

MASON CITY – A man who took it upon himself to cause hundreds of dollars in damages to cars parked on the North End of town and was later convicted has lost his appeal.

Joshua Joe Jennings was found guilty by a jury in July of 2014 after being accused of third-degree criminal mischief. According to Mason City police, Jennings damaged vehicles in the 1400 block of North Jefferson Avenue on or around March 30 of this year. Damage was estimated at approximately $620. Court records show that Jennings damaged, defaced, altered or destroyed Joseph Yezek’s vehicle, among others.

In the conviction, Judge Karen Salic sentenced Jennings to one year in jail with all but 14 days suspended. She also suspended a $625 fine and placed him on two years of probation. Jennings was ordered to pay $2,068.32 in restitution and court costs.

On appeal, Jennings contends “there is no direct evidence linking [him] to Yezek’s damaged vehicle.” He asserts the district court should have granted his motion for judgment of acquittal because “no one personally observed [him] damage Yezek’s vehicle,” “the police investigation yielded no physical evidence inculpating [him],” and his sister testified he “was asleep at her house . . . when she woke up” the next morning.

The State countered with strong circumstantial evidence, and according to court records, the Iowa Court of Appeals found that a reasonable juror could have found the following facts in upholding Jennings’ conviction and sentence:

Jennings’ ex- girlfriend, Pauline, and her friends were playing pool at a bar when Jennings showed up “mad.” Pauline decided to leave but was stopped by Jennings. Eventually, she left with a friend. Jennings followed. He “yell[ed],” called Pauline names she did not “care to repeat,” and asked her why she did not “want to go with him.” He also confronted one of her friends. The police were called, and Jennings left, although Pauline heard his truck, with its “distinct exhaust . . . noise,” continue to drive by.

Meanwhile, Pauline’s new boyfriend, Joseph Yezek, got off work and drove to Pauline’s friend’s house in a black truck with license plate BXP 896. He and Pauline eventually returned to Pauline’s house. In the interim, Pauline received a spate of text messages from Jennings, all referring to Yezek and his truck: “You were gon[n]a jump in with the guy in t[h]e black truck” (11:07 p.m.); “Your acting dumb your makin me do this” (11:11 p.m.); “Bxp896” (11:13 p.m.); “C you are a whore lil black truck wont exist much longer” (2:51 a.m.).
Pauline and Yezek went to bed, only to “hear [Jennings] driving by” and “circling the block.” The following morning, Yezek discovered damage to his truck in the form of a cracked windshield and broken glass in the front door. Inside his truck were shards of glass and a cement landscaping block. Pauline knew Jennings had a similar brick in his yard. A police search of the yard uncovered a “disturbed” area.

A reasonable juror could have inferred that Jennings intentionally damaged Yezek’s vehicle. Although there was no eye witness to the crime, the police investigation did not conclusively implicate him, and Jennings’s sister afforded him an alibi, substantial circumstantial evidence supported the jury’s finding of guilt.