The Iowa Supreme Court has ordered a Boone man to be resentenced on a child endangerment charge. Andrew Lopez reached an agreement where he pled guilty to child endangerment causing bodily injury, admitting that he harmed the two-year-old son of his girlfriend Tayler Hershey.
A presentence investigation report recommeded that Lopez, who was 20 at the time, be given a five-year suspended prison sentence and placed on probation. The prosecutor presented photos of the child’s injuries at the sentencing hearing that had not been seen before and Lopez was sentenced to five years in prison. Lopez appealed saying his lawyer should have objected to the new photos being presented.
The Iowa Supreme Court ruled the prosecutor breached the plea agreement by “gratuitously introducing photos not otherwise before the court” and using the photos to signal that Lopez deserved prison time rather than probation. The court ordered Lopez to be resentenced before a different judge.