Grant Rodgers

The Des Moines Register

DES MOINES, Iowa — A criminal defense attorney is criticizing an Iowa Department of Corrections policy that kept a former businessman convicted of murder from visiting his mother on her deathbed.

Vernon Huser, 67, was found guilty of first-degree murder by a Polk County jury in December in the 2004 shooting death of Lance Morningstar, a former road worker who had an affair with Huser's ex-wife. Prosecutors at trial claimed Huser enlisted the help of a hit man, Louis Woolheater, to have Morningstar killed.

Huser is serving a life sentence at the Anamosa State Penitentiary, but his attorneys last week tried to arrange a last-minute visit for Huser to see his mother, Marjorie Huser, on her deathbed at an Ames hospice facility. Marjorie Huser died Sunday, and her son was not able to visit her before her death, said Alfredo Parrish, Vernon Huser's attorney.

At issue was an Iowa Department of Corrections policy barring any of the state's 694 inmates with life sentences from leaving prison for deathbed visits or funerals without permission from the department's director. Anamosa State Penitentiary Warden John Fayram denied Huser's request Thursday, citing concerns about the relatively short amount of time Huser had been incarcerated.

Department of Corrections Director John Baldwin denied Huser's request Friday.

In a letter sent to the department and officials in the Iowa attorney general's office Monday, Parrish called the policy stopping Huser from visiting his mother "draconian."

Huser had first been convicted of first-degree murder in 2010 and was out on bond after the Iowa Court of Appeals granted him a new trial. Huser always complied with rules surrounding his release, Parrish said in the letter.

"If you look at how important it is to have an individual interact with a parent to give closure, he should've been given that opportunity," Parrish said.

Huser's family would have paid for any expenses related to the visit and arranged for two off-duty Polk County sheriff's deputies to transport Huser from the prison to Ames, according to a letter from Parrish filed in court. Huser had spoken with his mother over the phone on a daily basis, the letter said.

Fred Scaletta, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections, said Tuesday that Huser had not been incarcerated long enough for prison officials to know whether or not allowing him to make the trip would pose a security threat.

"The reason why a short-term offender is not likely to be approved for a bedside visit or funeral trip is that a longer period of prison adjustment is necessary to determine should there be any security risks or concerns," he said.

Two inmates serving life sentences in recent years have been approved for funeral or deathbed visits, Scaletta said. In 2013, 10 inmates were transferred for deathbed visits, while 46 were allowed to leave prison for funerals, he said.

Inmates who are taken out of prison for a visit or to attend a funeral are supervised with officers from the Department of Corrections and are required to wear restraints, including handcuffs, Scaletta said.

Huser is appealing his murder conviction, citing concerns about hearsay testimony at his trial similar to those that led the appeals court to grant him a new trial after his first conviction.