Story Archive

The Wages of Drunkenness

Dennis Michael Simmerman, 23, admitted to a deputy that he and a teenager had sexted and engaged in sexual activity. Clarke County, Iowa, County Attorney Michelle Rivera went after him. Simmerman sat in jail for 15 months without trial; a judge even refused to let him attend his grandmother’s funeral. Eventually he agreed to plead guilty to a felony. But shortly before he was to do so, a sheriff’s deputy observed Rivera — yes, the prosecutor — showing signs of public intoxication in a courtroom. She was arrested and pleaded guilty, so she wasn’t able to attend Simmerman’s plea hearing. And a day later, she missed her deadline to comply with his right to a speedy trial. The judge said her missing the hearing was “the finale following unexplained periods of inactivity and lack of responsiveness,” and ordered the charges dropped. Rivera will soon be out of a job: she lost her bid for re-election in November. (AC/Des Moines Register, KCCI Des Moines) ...Sounds like the voters used sober judgment.