The Iowa Court of Appeals has granted the request of a convicted murderer for a review of possible new evidence in his case.
Basil Pendleton of Waterloo was found guilty of first-degree robbery and first-degree murder in the 1983 in the killing of Carol Stinger, the bartender at the St. Louis House Tavern in Davenport. Pendleton says newly discovered evidence shows an affidavit was signed by a man in 2013 which says police told him what to say about Pendleton’s involvement in the murder and he knew nothing about it before talking to police.
The district court dismissed the appeal, but Pendelton says he was not properly informed about the hearing and his claim should not have been dismissed. The Appeals Court reviewed several factors involved in the hearing and ordered the district court to review the appeal once again — saying the ruling to dismiss the appeal may very well be repeated after the review.