It has been a little over three years since Steve Thomas Schneider of Carroll was convicted and sentenced to 40 years in prison on six counts of sexual abuse in the third degree for a sexual relationship he engaged in with his then 14-year-old niece. Those convictions were upheld in a 2015 appeal and again in 2016, on a request for postconviction relief that reached all the way to the Iowa Supreme Court. That request was denied because the court did not find any evidence that an amendment of the dates of the crimes negated the fact that they occurred in the first place. On Monday, District Court Judge, Dale E. Ruigh, filed a decision on an amended application for postconviction relief Schneider filed with the Carroll District Court on May 26, 2016. Schneider was again seeking an appeal in his conviction, this time on the grounds that his trial attorneys were ineffectual in several respects. Schneider claims his counsel did not request a change of venue, failed to challenge the amended dates of the crimes, that they failed to object to claimed prosecutorial conduct, failed to perform certain depositions and failed to call specific witnesses, that they did not address possible online postings that could have been accessed by jurors and that they did not present necessary expert testimony. Judge Ruigh, after careful examination of all facts, denied Schneider’s request for postconviction relief, saying his attorneys performed well within the professional norms, did not breach any essential duties owed to the defendant and that the outcome of his trial would not have been any different.