DES MOINES, Iowa – The kidnapping conviction and life sentence against Nicholas Lenz have been upheld.
The 24-year-old was found guilty of holding a woman prison for two days in Mitchell County, beating her, and threatening her with a gun. He appealed, arguing he should have been allowed to question the victim about her drug use at the time of the crime, the evidence the victim suffered a serious injury was insufficient, the law defining serious injury is unconstitutionally vague, and his defense council was ineffective.
The Iowa Court of Appeals has rejected all of those arguments and affirmed Lenz’ guilty verdict and life sentence. The Court found that Lenz had admitted to many of the things he was accused of, that the victim suffered a broken jaw that required the insertion of at least six metal screws to repair, and that Lenz failed to offer any reason why the victim’s drug use would have been relevant at trial.
