Ritenour Pleads Guity Before Second Trial
Oskaloosa, Iowa – An Oskaloosa mother previously convicted of First Degree Murder and Child Endangerment Resulting In Death had her convictions overturned in December of 2018.
A new trial was prepared and moved out of Mahaska County.
Just days before her next trial, Ritenour pleaded guilty to the charge of Child Endangerment Resulting In Death, which is a Class B Felony.
The charge comes with a 50-year prison sentence. Ritenour will be credited with time served.
Ritenour is also ordered to pay $150,000.00 in restitution.
The nearly five-year-old murder case took a new twist in 2018 after a Senior Judge found ineffective assistance of counsel. Alicia Ritenour’s 2014 first-degree murder conviction in the death of her three-year-old daughter, Ava, was overturned by Senior Judge Dan Wilson on the grounds that her trial counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel in multiple ways. A post-conviction relief trial was held in September, with Wilson hearing testimony related to 24 claims that Ritenour’s post-conviction relief attorney, Gina Messmer, believed were grounds for a new trial.
Wilson considered that at least 17 of the claims dealt with ineffective assistance of counsel. Ritenour’s trial counsel was Mike Smith, who was appointed as special defense counsel after public defender Ken Duker was forced to withdraw from the case due to a conflict of interest.
Of the 18 total ineffective assistance of counsel claims, Wilson granted eight of the claims. However, under Iowa Court rules, when a defendant raises multiple claims of ineffective assistance of counsel the court must consider the cumulative effect of the alleged errors. Wilson ruled that the cumulative effect of the claims prejudiced Ritenour.
“Considering all claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, the Court finds that the cumulative effect of trial counsel’s failure to perform essential duties satisfies the prejudice prong of the Strickland standard,” Wilson ruled.
As a result, Wilson ruled that Ritenour should receive a new trial.
Ritenour’s original trial began after a 911 call in 2014.
On Friday, January 24, 2014, at approximately 2:11 pm, the Oskaloosa PD received a 911 call from Apartment 224 at the Southern Hills Apartment Complex located at 18th Avenue East in Oskaloosa. Upon arriving at the scene Officers found Ava Ritenour, 18 months old, deceased.
An autopsy was performed at the Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner on the body of Ava Ritenour on January 25 and 26, 2014 by Dr. Michele Catellier, who determined the cause of death to be trauma to the head. The manner of death was classified as a homicide.
