Opinion
No. 5-949 / 05-0156
Filed February 1, 2006
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, L. Vern Robinson, Judge.
A defendant appeals the district court's denial of his motion for new trial. REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.
Linda Del Gallo, State Appellate Defender, and Nan Jennisch, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Darrel Mullins, Assistant Attorney General, and Harold L. Denton, County Attorney.
Considered by Sackett, C.J., and Vogel and Eisenhauer, JJ.
Marco Garcia appeals following his conviction for sex abuse in the third degree, in violation of Iowa Code section 709.1 and 709.4 (2003). He asserts that the district court failed to apply the weight-of-the-evidence standard set forth in State v. Ellis, 578 N.W.2d 655, 658-59 (Iowa 1998), when considering his motion for new trial. When ruling on the motion, the district court did not clarify that it was employing the weight-of-the-evidence standard but instead relied on its prior rulings made during trial that there was sufficient evidence to submit the case to the jury. The State concedes that the district court "erred, inasmuch as it did not make clear it was denying the motion on the proper ground rather than the improper ground."
We reverse the ruling on Garcia's motion for new trial and remand this matter to the district court with directions to rule on Garcia's motion for new trial applying the Ellis weight-of-the-evidence standard.