State v. Wilhelm

Defendant was charged with one count of first-degree sexual abuse and two counts of attempted first-degree sexual abuse. The state appeals from a pretrial order excluding three letters that defendant wrote to the victim. We reverse and remand.

Defendant is a 44-year-old man. He was in the process of obtaining custody of the victim, a 13-year-old girl. While defendant, the victim, and the victim’s mother were waiting in the Linn County Courthouse to testify on an unrelated matter, several witnesses saw what they described as an “inappropriate” or “very intimate” interaction between defendant…