Mower County Attorney’s Office to appeal judge’s decision in an April trial of an Austin man

The Mower County Attorney’s Office has filed a Notice of Appeal in the Minnesota Court of Appeals after a Mower County judge threw out two verdicts of guilty found by a Mower County jury against 40-year old Terry Izeal Heggs of Albert Lea after a trial held April 11th through the 14th of this year.

Heggs was charged by criminal complaint on November 22nd, 2022 with felony Predatory Offender Failure to Register, Subsequent Offense, Violation of a Domestic Abuse No Contact Order, Domestic Assault, and Interfere with an Emergency Call after Austin Police Department officers were called to the Wing Bazaar restaurant at 3401 West Oakland Avenue in the city of Austin after a 911 Operator received a call and could hear arguing and a female yelling before the call was disconnected.  The County Attorney’s Office stated in a news release that police found the female victim with a bloody lip and blood on her sweatshirt, and they added that Heggs is required to register as a predatory offender due to a 2011 conviction in Olmsted County District Court for a charge of Criminal Sexual Conduct. 

Heggs had previously been convicted twice in Olmsted County of failing to register. After the trial, Mower County District Court Judge Jeffrey Kritzer dismissed the charges of Violation of a Domestic Abuse No Contact Order and Interfere with Emergency Call, and the jury found Heggs guilty of the remaining two counts. On August 11, 2023, Judge Jeffrey Kritzer dismissed those two jury convictions as well. Mower County has now appealed that dismissal, and the County Attorney’s Office stated in the release that the appeal process is expected to take eight to ten months.

Heggs remains in the Mower County jail for sentencing on a separate conviction of Predatory Offender Failure to Register and Violation of a Domestic Abuse No Contact Order. Heggs still has two cases for 3rd Degree Drug Sales, a case of Drive-by Shooting and Violent Felon in Possession of a Firearm, and another Predatory Offender Failure to Register case still pending in Mower County District Court.