Judge will decide on Lindaman bail

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

It will be up to a district court judge whether Douglas Lindaman will be released from jail while awaiting a new trial on felony sexual assault charges.

Lindaman, who was convicted in April 2016 in Floyd County District Court, had his conviction overturned Friday by a three-justice panel of the Iowa Supreme Court.

The panel ruled that the district court had not satisfied the constitutional requirement regarding warning Lindaman of the danger of representing himself at trial.

Floyd County Attorney Rachel Ginbey, who prosecuted the case last spring, said she filed a motion Tuesday morning asking the court to set bail at $10,000 cash-only bond, in Lindaman’s name only, with requirements that he be subject to supervision by the Department of Corrections.

Ginbey had asked for similar bail restrictions in the original case last year. At that time a magistrate court judge went along with the $10,000 bail amount, but declined to set the restrictions Ginbey requested.

This time, Ginbey said, a district court judge will look at the case and make a decision on bail.

“He could release him on his own recognizance, set bond or set provisions,” Ginbey said.

Supervision could include an ankle monitor, GPS monitor or requirements that Lindaman check in regularly with a supervisor.

Ginbey said charges don’t have to be refiled to retry the case.

“It’s reset to before the trial started,” she said of the Supreme Court order, to a point after charges have been filed and depositions held.

July 5 is the next scheduled trial date. Although it’s unlikely a new trial in the Lindaman case would begin then, the court will probably set a trial date then, Ginbey said.

The cases usually are held from oldest to newest unless some of the defendants have demanded their right to a speedy trial.

The judge that will handle the case is unknown, Ginbey said. The district court judges are handling cases in a sort of rotation.

Lindaman was charged in 2015 with having sexually touched a 17-year-old boy in 2011, after hiring the boy as a farmhand.

He was convicted at a jury trial April 12, 2016, in Charles City, on one count of sexual abuse in the third degree, a Class C felony. He was sentenced to serve up to 10 years in prison, and is currently incarcerated at the Newton Correctional Facility.

Lindaman filed an appeal in December 2016, arguing that the district court failed to adequately warn him about the risks of representing himself at trial.

Lindaman has a law degree and formerly had a law license, but the Supreme Court panel ruled that the district court judge did not meet the established constitutional burden regarding making sure Lindaman’s decision to waive his Sixth Amendment right to representation by an attorney was “intelligent and knowing.”