Day in the life of a Des Moines Register courts reporter

I have had a strong interest in writing about crimes since I was 15. I had always had an interest in writing, but during my sophomore year of high school, I went to the Washington Journalism and Media Conference to learn more about journalism. 

One of the speakers was Alexis Johnson, a reporter for Vice News. Johnson talked about the more intense topics she wrote and reported on, including a story about people leaving death threats toward election workers around the 2020 election. 

Johnson called the threatening callers back to talk to them about what made them send death threats to a person. I think seeing reporters take those risks in journalism is inspiring. They’re able to get the truth out to people that journalists might not be able to do. 

This eventually led me to an interest in court reporting: writing about the court proceedings instead of the handling of the criminal investigation, which I think would be too intense for me. 

I reached out to William Morris, the Courts Reporter for the Des Moines Register, and he agreed to let me job shadow while he covered a recent case at the Polk County Courthouse. 

Morris has been with the Des Moines Register as the Courts Reporter since 2020. He graduated from Luther College in 2011 with a degree in English and Education. He started as an English teacher but decided that wasn’t for him. He found work at a small newspaper company in Minnesota. He was laid off during the pandemic, and the Des Moines Register had an opening. He has always been interested in crimes and reading court documents. He listened to court podcasts, including his favorite, “Lawyers Behaving Badly.”

He has covered many stories, ranging from murder cases, child abuse cases, to COVID lawsuits. He covers criminal cases, notable lawsuits, federal courts, and the Iowa Supreme Court cases. 

The Des Moines Register partners with the Iowa Capitol Dispatch to review cases and press releases for the latest developments. The Register also gets ideas for cases to cover from USA Today, its parent company. Morris works with his coworkers on stories that connect Morris’s case and his colleagues’ cases. If he hears about a development in one of his coworkers’ cases, he will tell them so they can write about it. 

He uses spreadsheets to keep track of all of his cases and the dates of his court proceedings. He said it can definitely be overwhelming when a few cases have developments at the same time. 

Morris said, “It’s usually possible to prioritize or share responsibilities around the newsroom to make sure we don’t fall behind.”

I met up with Morris at the Polk County Criminal Courthouse on Friday, April 9. We sat in on the hearing of Gemiere Goodwin. Goodwin was charged with going into an elderly man’s home and pretending to be a maintenance worker. He then beat the man and choked him unconscious twice. He stole credit cards, debit cards, and cash. He also took the man’s gun and the deed to his house. The victim’s wife had died the day before. 

Goodwin’s sister was the health care worker for the homeowner’s wife. There is no indication that the sister knew this was going to happen. Goodwin’s mother pleaded guilty to helping with the scheme and was sentenced to 35 years. 

Goodwin was found guilty of burglary, robbery, and willful injury. His lawyer had tried to connect the counts by saying they all went into the same category. The prosecutor said this crime was completely avoidable, brutal, and planned through. Goodwin was sentenced to 50 years.

What interested Morris was the planning of the crime. Although not involved, the sister, being the home nurse, knew that the homeowner’s wife had just died. He said this made it one of the most interesting home invasion cases he has covered. 

“That kind of risk is something people have to consider when bringing strangers into their home,” said Morris. He also said he thinks this will happen more often with the surge of home nurses. 

I have a few takeaways from my experience talking to Morris and going to a court hearing for the first time. I think it would be interesting to be a court reporter and to sit in on court proceedings. I would get to hear the verdicts and write about what the case involves. One way I think I could get more familiar with court proceedings is by listening to court podcasts and reading blogs. Reading court documents helps people learn more about the process of what they will be writing about. 

Morris said, “The more you do, the more you’ll understand the language and rhythm of court cases and know what to expect and what matters or doesn’t matter.”