New trial granted for Fairfax man convicted of 2008 murder

A 20-year-old Fairfax man convicted of murdering a 19-year-old during a fist fight between rival groups of friends in 2008 was granted a new trial Wednesday by the Iowa Court of Appeals.

Jacovan Bush was convicted of shooting and killing Thomas Horvath, 19, of Cedar Rapids, April 15 in the parking lot of the Raintree Apartments, 4950 16th Ave. SW.

Horvath was fatally shot in the abdomen and head during a fist fight between two rival groups of friends. The fight started out over a busted car light.

Bush appealed his conviction on several grounds but the appeals court only considered one based on inadmissible evidence.

Linn County Attorney Jerry Vander Sanden, then first assistant, called three witnesses who identified Bush as the shooter in statements to police after the incident but then recanted those statements prior to trial. He said he was calling them only for  impeachment purposes to prove Bush was the shooter. There was another witness who testified Bush was the shooter.

The defense argued those three witnesses' statements were inadmissible evidence but 6th Judicial District Judge Fae Hoover-Grinde allowed it.

Vander Sanden “orchestrated this series of events” to get this evidence that would have been otherwise inadmissible before the jury, the appeals court stated. Vander Sanden didn't tell the jury he was calling the three as fact witnesses to complete the story of the crime. He told them they would identify Bush as the shooter.

The appeals court also ruled the district court erred in allowing the entire seven hour videotape of the police interview of two of the three witnesses to be played during the trial.

The state wanted to play 14 minutes of the tape to rebut the defense's claim the police statements were coerced and the defense objected, saying it was hearsay, but if it's allowed then the jury should see the entire seven hours. The judge played the entire video over two days.