State Of Iowa Vs. David John Halstead

APPEL, Justice.

In this case, we confront the validity of inconsistent jury verdicts in a criminal trial in which a single defendant is convicted on a compound offense that requires, as an element, a finding of guilt on a predicate offense, but is acquitted on the underlying predicate offense. The rule in the majority of jurisdictions is to ignore the inconsistency and uphold the jury verdicts. The majority rule, however, has been subject to criticism, and a minority of courts has declined to follow it.

The court of appeals applied the majority rule and upheld the verdict. We granted further…