Court of Appeals hears arguments from Hurdel | News, Sports, Jobs

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Approximately 200 Marshall County students attended the Iowa Court of Appeals “On the Road” oral arguments at Marshalltown High School on Thursday morning. The Webster County case against Justin Hurdel for the August 2020 murder of his wife was the first case argued in front of the court.

MARSHALLTOWN — Appellate attorneys for a Fort Dodge man who was convicted last year of the August 2020 murder of his estranged wife argued in front of the Iowa Court of Appeals on Thursday that the District Court had erred when it denied a motion to suppress the video interview of the defendant when he was questioned by investigators.

Justin Hurdel was convicted in June 2021 and sentenced to life in prison for the first-degree murder of his estranged wife, Maggie Flint.

On Aug. 5, 2020, after signing divorce papers at Flint’s attorney’s office, Hurdel went to a mutual friend’s home and found Flint there. He left and later came back with a sawed-off shotgun and fatally shot Flint before attempting to take his own life, causing severe soft tissue facial injuries. Hurdel was arrested the next morning after an hours-long manhunt around the Fort Dodge area.

Law enforcement failed to provide Hurdel with the medical care he needed for his wounds, appellate attorney Jamie Hunter argued to the Court of Appeals. In attempting to take his own life, Hurdel sustained severe soft-tissue injuries to his face. Upon his arrest, he was transported to UnityPoint Health — Trinity Regional Medical Center, where a physician told law enforcement that he needed to be transported “ASAP” to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for further treatment, Hunter told the court.

“Mr. Hurdel shot himself in the face, he was out all night in an abandoned building in a field,” she said.

Hurdel’s case was one of three heard for oral arguments by the Court of Appeals on Thursday. For Constitution Day, the court took the scheduled oral arguments “on the road” to Marshalltown High School, where about 200 students from area high schools and a few members of the public were able to watch.

The appeals court judges asked questions during the attorneys’ oral arguments.

Judge Mary Tabor asked for clarification on Hunter’s assertion that officers ignored Hurdel’s medical needs by not taking him to Iowa City right away — the emergency room physician in Fort Dodge had written “OK to jail” on his paperwork when discharging Hurdel.

“That’s correct,” Hunter said. “But the very next line in that notation for him to be ‘OK to jail’ stated that he needed to be transferred to the University of Iowa hospital ASAP … The doctor stressed the urgency of this transfer.”

In the state’s oral arguments, Assistant Attorney General Zachary Miller argued that during the interview with then-Fort Dodge Police Detective Larry Hedlund, Hurdel didn’t show any discomfort or distress indicating he needed immediate medical care.

Other issues raised in Hurdel’s appeal were whether he had invoked his right to counsel and then later “knowingly and voluntarily” waived that right to continue talking to Hedlund after the investigator brought Hurdel some food. Hurdel also appealed the district court ruling that allowed the admission of text messages extracted from his cell phone, arguing both that the text messages were hearsay and that they were obtained without a search warrant because Hurdel’s phone had been found abandoned on a road south of Fort Dodge.

Miller asserted in his arguments that the state had abundant evidence of Hurdel’s guilt.

“The evidence was overwhelming that Justin killed Maggie,” Miller said.

After the oral arguments were complete, the case was officially submitted to the Iowa Court of Appeals, which will review the arguments and court records before ruling on the appeal.


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