(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld the hate crime conviction of a man who left derogatory notes on a Boone home where a rainbow flag was flying. Robert Geddes argued the handwritten notes he left at the home were free speech and his conviction for trespass as a hate crime violated his constitutional rights.

The Iowa Supreme Court upheld the conviction, saying the statute in question does not criminalize speech, but does criminalize conduct with a specific intent to trespass on property because of the property owner or possessor’s association with persons of a certain sexual orientation.

Geddes was sentenced to five consecutive one-year terms with the jail time suspended and was placed on probation for up to two years.