(Des Moines)– The Iowa Supreme Court Wednesday heard an appeal on behalf of Heidi Watkins of Spirit Lake, who was convicted of killing her daughter, Shelby Duis.
Watkins was represented by Spirit Lake attorney Mike Johnson.
Watkins was sentenced to up to 50 years after she was convicted of multiple counts of child endangerment in Shelby’s death.
Johnson told justices the sentence was based on allegations from prosecutors that Watkins knowingly permitted atleast three separate acts of abuse to occur against the child. Johnson says prosecutors failed to prove the injuries were caused by more than one incident.
But Richard Bennet of the Attorney General’s Office says a district judge and the Iowa Court of Appeals have already found Watkins knew about and tried to hide separate incidents of abuse.
It isn’t certain as to when a ruling might be made.
