Ottumwa case before Iowa Supreme Court this month
When the Iowa Supreme Court hears arguments in State v. Carlos Mulatillo later this month, it should jump start a stalled criminal case from 2015.
Mulatillo was arrested after a drug investigation in Ottumwa on June 15, 2015. Two and-a-half years later, he still has not gone to trial on charges of conspiracy to deliver more than five grams of methamphetamine, six counts of delivery of more than five grams of methamphetamine, and six counts of failure to affix a drug tax stamp. He pleaded not guilty.
The 13-count indictment has been stalled as the state and defense wrangle over whether Steven Gardner, Mulatillo’s attorney, can be forcibly removed. The dispute centers on an informant in the case against Mulatillo. Gardner represented that person in a different drug case beginning in September 2014, but withdrew in October of that year.
Small Town News 