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Rockwell man loses appeal in domestic abuse case

DES MOINES – A Rockwell man sent to prison for domestic violence lost his appeal.

Chad Leo Simmer, age 42, was sentenced to 5 years in prison two years ago by Judge Annette Boehlje after pleading guilty to domestic assault involving strangulation, which is a felony in Iowa. A $750 fine was suspended. In exchange for pleading guilty, charges of third or subsequent offense domestic assault and violation of a protective order were dismissed.

Simmer was arrested in January of 2013 by Cerro Gordo deputies at a rural residence halfway between Rockwell and Swaledale – 12340 150th Street – after a report of a domestic assault.

According to court documents, Cerro Gordo County Deputy Sheriffs responded to a domestic abuse episode between Chad Simmer and his wife. When the deputies arrived, Simmer told one of them he pushed his wife away several times and she fell to the ground. Simmer demonstrated his actions and, according to a deputy’s report, Simmer’s “hand was in a clasping manner like you may grab someone by the throat.” Simmer’s wife confirmed that Simmer threw her to the ground several times. She told the deputies Simmer twice grabbed her by the throat. When asked if she was unable to breathe when Simmer grabbed her, she responded yes. And when asked if it felt as though her blood flow was restricted, she again responded affirmatively.
The deputies stated the throat and upper chest of Simmer’s wife were “extremely red.” Three days after the episode, she sought emergency treatment for trouble swallowing, throat tightness, and back pain.
Simmer executed a written plea agreement, in which he attested, “I impeded the normal breathing or circulation of blood of my wife at the time.” In the same document, he agreed the court could “rely on the Minutes of Testimony as a further factual basis to support this plea.” According to those minutes, Simmer’s wife was slated to testify that Simmer “grabbed her around the neck with his hands,” and “applied pressure to her neck and she could not breathe.” She “thought she was going to pass out.”

At the plea hearing, Simmer did not dispute the minutes. To the contrary, he confirmed he assaulted his wife and “impeded her breathing or circulation of the blood and that she sustained an injury as a result.”

On appeal, Simmer contended his plea attorney was ineffective in failing to object to his plea on the ground that it lacked a factual basis as to whether he acted “knowingly” and the district court abused its discretion in denying him a suspended sentence.

However, the Iowa Court of Appeals found that the record is replete with evidence supporting the knowledge requirement of the crime; accordingly, Simmer’s counsel did not breach an essential duty in allowing him to plead guilty. As for his sentence, the court’s detailed statement of reasons tied to Simmer’s conduct and history revealed no abuse of discretion, and his sentence was upheld.

CHAD LEO SIMMER SENT TO PRISON
CHAD LEO SIMMER
SENT TO PRISON
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