CASE STATEMENT

 

No. 07-1563

 

Pottawattamie County No. FECR042766

 

 

STATE OF IOWA,

Plaintiff-Appellee-Resister,

 

vs.

 

STANLEY ALAN TRIBBLE,

Defendant-Appellant-Applicant.

 

Court of Appeals opinion writer: Doyle, J.

 

Trial Judge: G.C. Able

 

Appellate Counsel:

         Mark C. Smith, State Appellate Defender, and Dennis D. Hendrickson, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant.

 

         Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Kevin Cmelik, Assistant Attorney General, Matthew D. Wilbur, County Attorney, and Jon Jacobmeier, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.

 

 

Trial Counsel:

         James S. Burger and Patrick Eppler of Burger & Eppler, LLC, Omaha, Nebraska, for appellant.

 

Matthew D. Wilbur, County Attorney, and Jon Jacobmeier, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.

 

Ready date: 2-24-09

 

General case description: The defendant seeks further review of the court of appeals' decision affirming his first-degree murder conviction. The defendant asserts that the district court erred in instructing on felony murder with willful injury causing head trauma being the predicate offense and the allegedly separate asphyxiation of the victim being the independent homicide. The defendant further asserts (1) the district court erred in allowing hearsay testimony about the victim's statements, (2) his trial counsel was ineffective in failing to object to hearsay testimony about the victim's declaration to the police as a violation of the confrontation clause, and (3) and the district court erred in allowing testimony about a nationally publicized murder case.