KNOXVILLE, Iowa (AP) — A judge has again ruled that a civil trial verdict holding a man responsible for his mother’s death will stand although the man was acquitted after a criminal trial on a murder charge. Marion County Judge Martha Mertz released her decision Monday in the case against Jason Carter. The civil verdict ordered him to pay $10 million to his mother’s estate. His father had filed a wrongful death lawsuit against his son, saying Jason fatally shot Shirley Carter in June 2015 to gain access to his parents’ assets. In March a jury found Jason Carter not guilty of the murder charge.

(Radio Iowa) — Democrats are calling for the legislature to investigate patient care at the state-run Glenwood Resource Center. Recently-released email appears to show an administrator in the Department of Human Services knew 20 months ago that disabled patients at Glenwood were to be part of a “sexual preoccupation” study. Representative Ruth Ann Gaines of Des Moines is the ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee. “With this new information, it is our job as lawmakers to find out what’s going on,” Gaines said.

Senate Democratic Leader Janet Petersen of Des Moines says it’s past time for legislators to seek answers from the executive branch. “We have a Government Oversight Committee for a reason and it should have been meeting long ago on this issue,” Petersen says. The Des Moines Register recently received email, texts and other documents from the Iowa Department of Human Services. The material indicates some staff at the Glenwood facility were warning the agency’s very top manager of several problems. Representative Dave Deyoe, of Nevada, was among a handful of lawmakers who met with then-D-H-S director Jerry Foxhoven a year ago to raise concerns. “Foxhoven said none of this was going on,” Deyoe says, “that they couldn’t do studies there, that’s not their job to do studies and it would be illegal if they did.”

The governor fired Foxhoven this past summer for undisclosed reasons. The manager who seems to have approved the sex-related study recently retired. Deyoe and other Republicans in the legislature say lawmakers should defer to the U.S. Department of Justice investigation of patient treatment at the Glenwood Resource Center rather than have the state legislature launch an investigation at this time.

Police in Red Oak, Monday afternoon, arrested 39-year old Penny Marie Griggs. The Red Oak woman was taken into custody on a Mills County warrant for Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. She was being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $300 bond, for Mills County.

DES MOINES, Iowa – Officials with the Iowa Dept. of Public Safety report no charges will be filed in connection to the deaths last November of a woman and her child in northern Iowa.

On November 10, 2019, the Webster City Police Department requested the assistance of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI) to conduct a death investigation at 721 Des Moines Street in Webster City, Iowa. At approximately 8:13 a.m., Webster City police officers responded to the residence following the report of a roommate who had discovered two bodies. The deceased individuals were identified as 28-year-old Mariangelys Ortiz and her three-month-old daughter Abimelec Ortiz Figueroa. Both decedents were residents of 721 Des Moines Street.

Autopsies were performed on both individuals by the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office. Autopsy results indicated the following cause and manner of death:

•    Mariangelys Figueroa Ortiz’s cause of death is ligature hanging and manner of death is suicide.
•    Abimelec Ortiz Figueroa’s cause of death is unknown and manner of death is undetermined.

The DCI, along with the Webster City Police Department, Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office conducted the investigation

DRAKESVILLE, Iowa – Iowa DNR officials say they helped to rescue a man that had fallen through the ice at Lake Wapello in Davis County at around 5:30-p.m., Monday. The man had been ice fishing alone and was packing up to leave when he fell through the ice approximately 150 yards from shore. A man on shore saw him in the lake and called 911. First responders were able to rescue the man and he was transported to a local hospital. No word on his condition at this time; however, he was conscious and alert.

Nearly 30 rescue personnel from the following agencies assisted with the rescue: DNR Parks staff, DNR conservation officers, Davis County Sheriff’s Office, Bloomfield Fire Department, Floris Fire Department, Drakesville Fire Department and several EMS personnel.

Rescuers believe the ice was about 4 to 5 inches in depth on Lake Wapello at the time of the rescue. DNR officials warn of deteriorating ice conditions due to the recent unseasonably warm weather and remind people to be cognizant of the conditions and obey all posted signs and warning flags at lakes and ponds.

The Iowa State Patrol reports a southwest Iowa man died in a crash between a car and a semi late Monday morning, in Fremont County. Authorities say 34-year old Justin Michael Evans, of Randolph, died when for reasons unknown, the eastbound 1996 Toyota Camry he was driving crossed the center line of 120th Street and struck a westbound semi in an offset, driver-side to driver-side fashion. The crash happened at around 11:24-a.m.

Evans died at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt. The driver of the semi, 42-year old Trevor John Whipple, of Northboro, was not injured. The Patrols was assisted at the scene by the Fremont County Sheriff’s Office, the Tabor, Randolph and Sidney Fire and Rescue Departments.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:35 a.m. CST

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Newly released documents indicate a recently retired top official overseeing Iowa’s mental health and disability services programs knew of plans to perform sexual experiments at a state-run institution as far back as nearly two years ago. The Iowa Department of Human Services has released letters, emails, and other documents about Glenwood Resource Center indicating increasing concerns of staff members about sexual arousal experiments on patients. An email written to Rick Shults on May 21, 2018, shows he approved of a research plan drawn up by Jerry Rea, the former superintendent at Glenwood who was fired in December. It detailed experiments on patients at Glenwood and a separate state facility that holds sexual offenders.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court has elected Justice Susan Christensen as its next chief justice. She becomes only the second woman in state history to rise to chief of the seven-member court. Appointed by Gov. Kim Reynolds in 2018, Christensen is part of a new more conservatively constituted court. Reynolds has named three justices to the court since becoming governor and will name a fourth after acting Chief Justice David Wiggins retires next month. Wiggins became acting chief after the unexpected death of Chief Justice Mark Cady in November from a heart attack.

WASHINGTON (AP) — For a majority of Democratic voters, going back to the days before Donald Trump isn’t good enough. In Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada, the first three states to weigh in, voters have elevated the candidate promising the biggest departure from the politics of the past — not necessarily the clearest path to defeating President Donald Trump or a restoration of the Obama era. After fighting to a draw in Iowa, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who bills himself as the leader of a revolution, bested candidates in New Hampshire and Nevada promising a restoration of the pre-Trump era and those who focus mainly on their electability.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (AP) — Jurors have convicted a man of murder in the killing of an Iowa high school student more than 40 years ago. It took jurors about three hours to convict 66-year-old Jerry Burns of first-degree murder in the December 1979, stabbing death of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko. Her body was found inside her family’s car at a Cedar Rapids shopping mall. Police arrested Burns on Dec. 19, 2018, at his Manchester, Iowa, business. It was the 39th anniversary of Martinko’s death. Burns was linked to the crime by DNA evidence. Burns didn’t testify, and his defense called only one witness. In Iowa, first-degree murder carries a mandatory term of life in prison.

CLARINDA –Officials with the Iowa Department of Corrections reported Monday night, that a correctional officer was assaulted at approximately 3:05 pm Monday, at the Clarinda Correctional Facility.

The officer was escorting two inmates to their units when one of the inmates unexpectedly attacked the officer. The inmate was able to land several closed-fist strikes to the officer’s face and head before the officer was able to restrain him long enough to call for assistance. Additional officers quickly responded to the incident and were able to place the attacking inmate in restraints.

The officer that was assaulted was evaluated by facility medical staff, and taken via State vehicle to the Clarinda Regional Health Center for further evaluation. It is believed he suffered bruising and soreness. The inmate involved in the assault suffered no major injuries.

The incident remains under investigation.

DAVENPORT, Iowa (The Gazette) — Jurors have convicted a man of murder in the killing of an Iowa high school student more than 40 years ago. It took jurors about three hours to convict 66-year-old Jerry Burns of first-degree murder in the December 1979, stabbing death of 18-year-old Michelle Martinko. Her body was found the next day inside her family’s car at a Cedar Rapids shopping mall.

Burns didn’t testify, and his defense called only one witness. The trial was moved to Scott County District Court in Davenport because of pretrial publicity in Cedar Rapids. In Iowa, first-degree murder carries a mandatory term of life in prison.