IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa educator who spent years in prison in a sex abuse case that was later dismissed will have to wait to seek damages in a lawsuit against the public defender who allegedly botched his representation. A three-justice panel of the Iowa Supreme Court has taken the rare step of granting the state’s pre-trial appeal in a lawsuit filed by Donald Clark.

The move cancelled a legal malpractice trial set to begin Tuesday in Johnson County in which Clark was seeking millions in damages from the state. A single justice had earlier denied the state’s appeal. Clark’s lawyer says the unintended impact is cruel to his client, delaying an outcome by years.

Clark, a former counselor at Lemme Elementary in Iowa City, was convicted in 2010 of abusing a student during the 2003 school year. Clark was freed in 2016 after a judge ruled that his now-deceased public defender provided ineffective assistance. The alleged victim admitted to some false testimony and the county prosecutor’s office dropped the case. Clark maintains his innocence.

The high court will now consider when defense lawyers can be sued for malpractice.

BURLINGTON, Iowa (AP) — Police have charged a Louisiana man with murder in the death of a man whose body was found in an eastern Iowa home. Burlington police say officers on Monday charged 19-year-old Moshun Dee Reed, of Shreveport, with first-degree murder in the death of 36-year-old Tito Randall Kingsby, of Burlington.

Police found Kingsby’s body after being called to a Burlington home Sunday afternoon. An autopsy of Kingsby’s body is planned Wednesday. The Hawk Eye newspaper reports police initially arrested Reed on an outstanding Louisiana warrant Sunday night and arrested him on the murder charge Monday.

Reed is being held in the Des Moines County jail.

(Radio Iowa) — Iowans who overshare on social media might embarrass themselves, but they could also lose control of their personal information or become a target for burglars. Consumer protection advocate Lara Sutherlin says Iowans should limit their posts to just the people they trust, like restricting Facebook messages to “friends only” and not to the entire world.

Sutherlin says, “We encourage people to disable their geotagging, which allows anybody to see where you are –and where you aren’t — at any given time.” By showing online you just checked in at a favorite restaurant, that’s also telling everyone you’re likely gone from your house for an hour or so, which could make you a target for a break-in. Posting while on vacation could be exponentially worse. Sutherlin says a few recent high-profile cases have demonstrated how trying to make a joke on social media could end up getting you fired.

“Even if you delete a post or a picture from your profile seconds after posting it, chances are someone saw it and it’s out there in the ether and you can’t get it back,” she says. “So really be thoughtful about what you put out there and whether it needs to be out there.” In one case earlier this month, a Waterloo teacher lost his job after making a threatening comment about climate change activist Greta Thunberg. While social media is a great way to connect with friends and family, Sutherlin says it’s also a good place for crooks to try and find victims to scam. She says it’s important to stay vigilant and to resist the urge to click links or give information online.

“You name it, there’s a number of ways in which scammers online try to elicit information from you through building trust.” Too much shared information could give criminals a way to figure out your routine and the best ways to steal from you.

(Radio Iowa) — A 35-year-old Sioux City woman has been sentenced to nearly seven years in federal prison for doing drug deals within a thousand feet of a city park. Winona Freemont entered a guilty plea this summer, admitting she was part of a group that distributed meth out of a house near a popular city park in Sioux City. Prosecutors say Freemont and others went to Omaha to get the meth, then distributed it to others once they got back to Sioux City. After her 90-month prison sentence, Freemont will be on probation for six years.

In March of 2018, U.S. Marshals listed Freemont as one of Siouxland’s most wanted fugitives, noting in a news release that she could be recognized from the tattoos of the Sergeant Floyd Monument and other Sioux City landmarks on her right forearm. She turned herself in to authorities in April of last year.

(Radio Iowa) — A former postal worker in Pocahontas has admitted to stealing mail. Thirty-year-old Cassandra Rheuport of Rolfe, pleaded guilty to theft of mail by a postal employee and admitted that from about February 2018 through July 28, 2018, she opened mail or stole mail.

Rheuport stole at least 395 dollars along with narcotic medications prescribed for others when she worked as a city carrier in Pocahontas. She’ll be sentenced at a later date where she faces a maximum of five years in prison and a maximum fine of 250-thousand dollars.

Police in Council Bluffs were called just before 9-a.m. today (Monday), to the area of South 9th Street and 2nd Ave. in Council Bluffs for a possible dead body that had been found wrapped in a sheet. Officers arrived on scene and confirmed the report.

Authorities say at this time this suspicious death investigation is in its beginning stages and as updates arise they will be sent out. No names will be released until the victim’s family is contacted.

If anyone has information on this incident please contact the Council Bluffs Police Department at 712-328-4765 or contact Crime Stoppers at 712-328-7867.

KNOXVILLE, Iowa (AP) — Authorities have identified a woman killed in a pipe bomb explosion at a gender reveal party in Iowa. The Marion County sheriff’s office says 56-year-old Pamela Kreimeyer died instantly after debris struck her in the head Sunday in rural Knoxville. Authorities say the Kreimeyer family had been experimenting with different types of explosives in hopes of recording a gender reveal ceremony that could be posted on social media for friends and family.

They say family members used gunpowder to create a homemade stand that was supposed to blow colorful powder indicating the child’s sex, but tape over the top of the metal tubing inadvertently created a pipe bomb that sent shrapnel flying. Kreimeyer was standing 45 feet from the device when it exploded.