State of Iowa, Appellee v. Max v. Thorndike, Appellant

Summary

The court limited further review to whether trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to an unsupported alternative in the lascivious-acts jury instruction. It affirmed because, even assuming counsel should have objected, Thorndike did not prove a reasonable probability that the verdict would have been different: the evidence supported only the valid alternative, and the State told the jury the unsupported alternative probably did not apply. The court left the court of appeals’ resolution of the other issues undisturbed.