Iowa Supreme Court Throws Out Charges From Polk County Jail Conversation

(Des Moines, IA) — The Iowa Supreme Court is dismissing charges brought against a Polk County man following an online jail conversation with his former girlfriend. Kourtney Hall told Emily Bowers if she doesn’t go to church that doesn’t mean she will go to jail. That was a code telling her not to show for a deposition seeking information in a criminal case against Hall. She did show up and gave testimony, and Hall was then charged and convicted of suborning perjury and obstructing prosecution. The Iowa Supreme Court overturned the perjury conviction — saying Hall did not offer any inducement that she testified falsely under oath or that she concealed material information. And the ruling says there is no crime of “attempted obstruction of prosecution,” it only prohibits actually causing a witness to fail to appear when subpoenaed.