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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 9-148 / 08-0525 Filed March 26, 2009 STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. TRENT ANTHONY VIKEL, Defendant-Appellant. ________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Sylvia A. Lewis, Judge.

A defendant appeals his conviction and sentence for false reports to a law enforcement authority, contending that there was insufficient evidence to show that he reported the occurrence of a criminal act and that he was incorrectly sentenced for a serious misdemeanor while only being convicted of a simple misdemeanor. AFFIRMED.

Mark C. Smith, State Appellate Defender, and Thomas Gaul, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant. Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kyle Hanson, Assistant Attorney General, Janet M. Lyness, County Attorney, and Anne Lahey and Rachel Zimmermann, Assistant County Attorneys, for appellee.

Considered by Vogel, P.J., and Vaitheswaran and Eisenhauer, JJ.

2 VAITHESWARAN, J. Trent Vikel appeals his judgment and sentence for false reports to a law enforcement official. He contends (1) he did not "report" the commission of a crime and (2) he should have been sentenced for a simple rather than a serious misdemeanor. I. Background Facts and Proceedings An Iowa City cab driver gave Vikel a ride to his mother's home. During the ride, Vikel disclosed that he did not have cash but his mother would pay the fare. Upon arrival, Vikel's mother was not at home and Vikel could not find money in her house. The cab driver contacted her dispatcher, who, in turn, contacted the police. After officers arrived at the scene, Vikel told them that the cab driver touched him inappropriately. Vikel was otherwise uncooperative. The officers arrested him for theft and interference with official acts. They spoke to the cab driver, who denied inappropriately touching Vikel. On the way to jail, Vikel

elaborated on his earlier assertions about the cab driver. Police concluded that Vikel's accusations against the cab driver were unwarranted. The State charged him with false reports of an indictable offense to law enforcement based on his communications on the day of his arrest. 1 Iowa Code

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