State of Iowa, Appellee v. Patrick Michael Dudley, Appellant

Summary

The court held that the State did not breach the conditional plea offer because Dudley took the polygraph only after the offer had expired and did not detrimentally rely on it before withdrawal. It nevertheless affirmed a new-trial order because the treating therapist impermissibly vouched for the victim by linking her specific symptoms to sexual-abuse trauma, and it directed the district court to exclude the neighbor’s hearsay testimony and reconsider impeachment with the witness’s old theft conviction on retrial. Justice Waterman, concurring specially, would preserve possible rebuttal use of similar expert testimony if the defense opened the door, while Chief Justice Cady, dissenting, would find any error harmless.