Divided Iowa Supreme Court reversed district court’s exclusion of criminal defendant’s family from attending trial under the Court’s COVID-19 Supervisory Order as a violation of the public right to trial

In State v. Brimmer, the Iowa Supreme Court was again divided in addressing a challenge to a district court’s application of the Iowa Supreme Court’s COVID-19 supervisory orders, this time addressing the right to public trial.

Citing COVID-19 concerns, a Dubuque County judge closed the courtroom doors to Ronald Brimmer’s trial for second-degree sexual…