Supreme Court of Iowa, 2003

The court held that the prosecutor’s questioning asking Graves whether an officer had made up his testimony was improper, and that the prosecutor’s repeated accusations and other improper arguments, considered together, denied Graves a fair trial.

The court held that Harrington's appeal was timely and that his postconviction-relief action was not barred by the statute of limitations because he relied on newly discovered grounds of fact that could not previously have been raised and were sufficiently connected to his conviction.