Douglas claims intoxication in attempted murder case

An attempted murder case is going to a trial by jury with the accused claiming intoxication as his defense.

George W. Douglas, 33, of Woodburn, was arrested Dec. 5, 2024, on the charges of possession of a firearm by a felon, going armed with intent and the attempted murder of Tyler Sutton, 35, of New Virginia. The jury trial is scheduled to be held at 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 13 at the Clarke County Courthouse. A pretrial conference is scheduled for today.

On Dec. 31, Douglas filed a plea of not guilty to his charges and waived his right to a speedy trial. In February, the state filed a motion to depose Sutton as a potentially unavailable witness on the basis of Sutton being paralyzed from the ribcage down and continuing to suffer complications as a direct result of the shooting.

On April 14, Douglas’ attorney filed an application for a toxicology witness at the state’s expense, stating the request was made in order to prepare an effective defense. Douglas has contacted a private consultant out of Barrington, Illinois, as a toxicology expert witness. The court has approved more than $20,000 to be billed at the state’s expense in this matter.

The charges stem from an incident at approximately 12:35 p.m. Dec. 5, when dispatch was advised of a gunshot victim at 3049 Pacific St. in rural Clarke County. While en route, law enforcement was advised that Douglas had called, stating he had shot someone. Douglas was located at that address shortly after the call to dispatch. He informed law enforcement officers that he had shot Sutton at Sutton’s residence in New Virgina.

Douglas made several statements to officers that Sutton had recently given him bad drugs, and that he had retrieved a Kimber firearm from his brother’s residence. Douglas went to Sutton’s residence with the intention to use the firearm in an assault and cause bodily injury.

As a convicted felon, Douglas is prohibited from possessing firearms or offensive weapons. Douglas has multiple drug-related felonies out of Clarke County.

When officers and EMS personnel arrived at Sutton’s residence in New Virginia, they found him suffering from a gunshot wound. The incident occurred approximately five to 15 minutes before Douglas called dispatch. Sutton was transported via LifeFlight to Iowa Methodist Hospital in Des Moines.

If convicted, attempted murder is a Class B felony and armed with intent a Class D felony. Douglas is currently in the custody of the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office.

According to Cornell Law School, a defense of intoxication is used by defendants to show “they should not be held responsible for a crime due to a compromised mental state that hindered their ability to form the necessary intent or criminal intent. Iowa Code 701.5 for intoxicants or drugs states, “the fact that a person is under the influence of intoxicants or drugs neither excuses the person’s act nor aggravates the person’s guilt, but may be shown where it is relevant in proving the person’s specific intent or recklessness at the time of the person’s alleged criminal act or in proving any element of the public offense with which the person is charged.”