Iowa Supreme Court reviews
Oberhart case

Written arguments from attorneys challenging and defending the first-degree murder conviction of Tyler Ray Oberhart are scheduled to be received by the Iowa Supreme Court no later than today.

Although the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed Oberhart’s first-degree murder conviction in May, the Iowa Supreme Court elected to hear further review of the case, granting a non-oral argument for 1 p.m. today. Oberhart’s attorney, Richard E.H. Phelps, has challenged the sufficiency of the evidence and counsel during Oberhart’s trial, which took place in the fall of 2008 in Dallas County after a change of venue was granted due in large part to media coverage surrounding the case. Oberhart was represented by the Marshalltown Public Defender’s Office during his trial.

Oberhart was among three men initially charged with first-degree murder in the stabbing death of 19-year-old Jerry Alden Pittman II, on Oct. 7, 2007, in the back yard of Pittman’s home at 714 W. Third St. S., about a block north of Maytag Park. Pittman, whose body was found by his father, had been stabbed 29 times. Justin Alan Robuck was convicted of second-degree murder and is serving a 50-year prison sentence, and Ray Robert Travis pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of second-degree robbery and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Oberhart, who was 17 years old at the time of Pittman’s death, was convicted of first-degree murder in August 2008 and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Last November, the Iowa Court of Appeals rejected Robuck’s appeal for a new trial. He is serving his sentence at the Clarinda Correctional Facility in Clarinda, while Oberhart is at the Anamosa State Penitentiary.

The Iowa Attorney General’s Office handles all criminal appeals for the state. Jasper County Attorney Michael Jacobsen noted that the Iowa Supreme Court took about three months in returning a decision in a Story County criminal case that, like Oberhart’s case, was granted further review without oral argument.