Thomas

Convicted of first-degree murder, Robert Thomas is seeking a new trial through post-conviction relief, three years after being sentenced to life in prison, plus another 25 years for attempted murder.

Thomas, 40, formerly of Marshalltown, is also asking for his convictions to be vacated, which means the court would dismiss the case and he would be free of the penalties.

Thomas was found guilty in 2021 of shooting and killing 22-year-old Johnqwez Lewis and seriously injuring 27-year-old Devonte Brooks in an apparent drive-by on the north side of Marshalltown in March 2020.

During the trial, the prosecution argued that Thomas committed the murder as retribution for the killing of his brother, Blake Thomas. Mustafa Muhammad was convicted of the first-degree murder of Blake Thomas in November 2021. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In Thomas’s application for post-conviction relief, he claims the state withheld evidence, he had inadequate counsel and some evidence was not allowed during the trial.

Thomas wrote the reasons he believes his attorney was not adequate, including:

• Minutes of testimony were not requested from the state;

• Proper objections were not made to some evidence being admitted;

• Thomas was not informed about the difference between a jury trial and a judge trial and thus could not make an intelligent decision;

• An investigation was not conducted into whether or not Judge John Haney had other state employees who were biased;

• A change of venue was not discussed;

• Thomas was not advised on his right to testify during his trial and;

• For not arguing the state’s evidence was insufficient.

In February 2023, he appealed his conviction and sentence to the Iowa Court of Appeals, but the judges affirmed the Marshall County Court’s decisions.

A non-jury trial was scheduled for Oct. 10, but was continued after Marshall County Attorney Jordan Gaffney filed that he had not received necessary information from Thomas and his attorney Jessica Millage. For the trial, Thomas hopes to secure expert witnesses regarding firearms, video evidence and fingerprinting. Judge John Flynn ordered the information to be sent to Gaffney and for the new trial date to be scheduled by Oct. 24.

Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.