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Decision reinstates guilty conviction of felony by jury after it was reversed by judge

 

The Minnesota Court of Appeals has reversed, in part, the acquittal of Terry Izeal Heggs, 41, finding him guilty of a felony charge of predatory offender who fails to register.

The decision follows the August 2023 announcement by the Mower County Attorney’s Office announcing that it intended to appeal a decision by Judge Jeffrey Kritzer, who reversed a jury conviction of guilty on the felony charge as well as a second charge of gross misdemeanor domestic assault.

Kritzer dismissed the jury convictions on Aug. 11, 2023, ruling that there was insufficient evidence to find guilt on both charges, but the ruling Monday by a three judge panel disagreed on the felony count of failing to register while upholding the reversal on the domestic assault violation

County Attorney Kristen Nelsen said that the appeals court ruling vindicates the case brought against Heggs, who has been charged in a number of previous cases and has several past convictions over the span of several years.

“I think it validates the decision made by the citizens who heard the evidence; by the jurors who heard everything and believed the facts as they were brought forth,” Nelsen said Wednesday. “We’re pleased the court of appeals thought the same way we did.”

The ruling comes just over 11 months after Kritzer’s ruling to reverse the jury’s convictions. In his decision at the time, the judge cited that a “second address” required in such a case is defined as “the mailing address of any place where the person regularly or occasionally stays overnight when not staying at the person’s primary address.”

At the time Heggs’ was listed as living in Albert Lea. Kritzer stated that the only evidence that directly connected Heggs to Wing Bazaar, the restaurant at which Heggs had been staying and where he was arrested on Nov. 19, 2022 during a report of a domestic assault, was circumstantial.

During the arrest, officers discovered envelopes with Hegg’s name on it as well as an inflatable bed, a counter, storage area, partial bathroom and clothing, though Kritzer stated in his decision that other people at the restaurant also had access to the area.

The appeals court disagreed in their finding, instead arguing that all of the items found, including a suitcase full of mail and other personal documents belonging to Heggs as well as similar documents and men’s apparel “… are not the types of items normally found in a workplace break room.”

“Given the nature and volume of personal property in the break room, the only reasonable inference is that a man was regularly staying overnight in that room, had been doing so for some time, and planned to continue doing so,” the decision went on to read, and further added that sufficient evidence supported the jury’s decision and that the move to acquit that decision was in error.

However, while the appeals court ruled to uphold the guilty conviction for failing to register, it agreed that evidence was circumstantial related to the domestic assault charge and kept that reversal in place.

According to the original court complaint, an altercation between Heggs and the victim occurred when Heggs accused her of trying to see other men. As the altercation escalated, the victim called 9-1-1 to avoid escalation and during the call could be heard yelling during the argument. 

When officers arrived they could hear the woman screaming and upon making entrance to the building encountered Heggs, who was put in handcuffs. Both Heggs and the victim were covered in flour and the victim had blood on her lip and on her sweatshirt.

However, the victim claimed that the injury occurred because of a fall and wasn’t a direct result of Heggs becoming physical.

In Monday’s decision, it was noted that at the time the victim was visibly intoxicated and that the circumstances didn’t rule out that she might have been injured in a fall. 

There has been no date listed as to when sentencing for the conviction will take place following the entrance of conviction, and it is possible that Heggs could submit a petition for review to the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Coincidentally, Heggs is currently serving a 36-month sentence at the Minnesota Correctional Facility in Lino Lakes for an Aug. 31, 2023 conviction in another case of predatory offender failing to register. He is currently slated for an anticipated release of March 31, 2025.