State v. LaForge – Defendant was charged with a Class B Felony, Homicide by Vehicle – Operating While Intoxicated. The charge carried with it a mandatory 25 year prison sentence if the defendant was convicted. The charge was originally dismissed as a result of the State destroying the defendant’s blood sample after a request to preserve it was made but the Iowa Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal. The blood test result was nonetheless excluded by the Court of Appeals and the case proceeded to trial. At trial, the jury found the defendant guilty of the lesser charge of Voluntary Manslaughter but that conviction was reversed by the Iowa Court of Appeals on the basis that insufficient evidence supported that conviction.
