Gina Messamer

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Gina Messamer focuses on civil rights, appeals, personal injury, and criminal defense (both state and federal). Gina is passionate about fighting for her clients. She can help to make things right if you have been injured or treated unfairly. She cares about her clients and will do her best to make sure your interests are protected.

Before joining the Parrish Law Firm, Gina worked closely with several judges. She has worked for Judge Mary Tabor on the Iowa Court of Appeals, Justice Thomas Waterman on the Iowa Supreme Court, and Judge Stephanie Rose in the Southern District of Iowa federal court. Through these experiences, Ms. Messamer gained valuable insight into how Iowa judges decide cases.

Originally from Oskaloosa, Iowa, Gina attended Texas Christian University in Fort Worth, Texas. At TCU, Gina participated on the TCU Track & Field team, where she ran the 400 meter hurdles and 800 meter races. After TCU, Gina came back to Iowa and earned her law degree from the University of Iowa. Gina now lives in Des Moines with her husband, Alex, and her dog, Lloyd. Gina’s parents still live in Oskaloosa, and Gina enjoys frequent visits back to Southern Iowa.

Representative Cases

• Civil rights lawsuit settlement: Gina settled a civil rights lawsuit for $75,000 on behalf of two African-American men who were wrongfully stopped by Des Moines Police.
• Dismissed case: A Polk County judge dismissed a criminal charge against an African American man represented by Gina. The judge agreed with Gina that the man should never have been approached by police to begin with, and so the police had violated the man’s constitutional rights.
• Not guilty verdict: A Polk County jury deliberated for only 15 minutes before finding Gina’s client Keilon Hill NOT GUILTY of harassment of a public official. Mr. Hill was canvassing for a political candidate in West Des Moines when a local resident reported him as a “suspicious person.” Mr. Hill repeatedly asked the responding officer if he had broken any laws and received no answer. The officer arrested Mr. Hill after Mr. Hill asked the officer to leave him alone and walked away. The jury agreed with Gina that asserting your right to be left alone is not a crime.
• Murder conviction overturned: Gina represented a young woman who was convicted of killing her toddler and was serving a life sentence. Gina convinced the judge to overturn the 1st degree murder conviction and order a new trial for the client. The judge granted a new trial because Gina was able to establish that the client’s trial attorney made several serious errors at the client’s first trial.
• Federal plea bargain: Gina represented a young man with federal charges for sex trafficking and a conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. He faced a mandatory sentence of 15 years in prison and would have been required to register as a sex offender. Gina was able to convince the prosecutors to dismiss those charges and her client pled guilty to a much lower charge. He was ultimately sentenced to only 21 months in prison and will not have to register as a sex offender.