Iowa Court of Appeals rejects Mason City man’s appeal on attempted murder conviction

DES MOINES — The Iowa Court of Appeals has rejected a claim by a Mason City man that selection of a jury in his attempted murder trial was racially biased.

37-year-old Trapp Trotter was convicted by a jury of attempted murder and criminal trespass after being accused of stabbing a man in Northwood in June 2018. Trotter’s trial was moved to Bremer County with an all-white jury convicting him. Trotter appealed the conviction, stating that there was a systematic exclusion of African-Americans from the jury pool.

The Iowa Court of Appeals recently affirmed the conviction, rejecting Trotter’s claim. They stated that jury-eligible African-Americans made up just over 1% of the population of Bremer County when Trotter’s trial was held and that he produced no evidence African-Americans had been excluded from the jury pool.

Trotter is serving his sentence at the Anamosa state prison.