State of Iowa
v.
Chad Alan Stechcon
Appellee
State of Iowa
Appellant
Chad Alan Stechcon
Attorney for the Appellee
Martha E. Trout, Assistant Attorney General
Attorney for the Appellant
Michelle E. Rabe, Assistant Appellate Defender
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Ian K. Thornhill, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Schumacher, P.J., Buller, J., and Potterfield, S.J. Opinion by Potterfield, S.J. (11 pages)
Stechcon appeals his convictions of willful injury causing bodily injury and false imprisonment, arguing (1) the district court should have granted his motion for mistrial after one of the State’s witnesses violated the court’s ruling on the motion in limine prohibiting witnesses from referencing that Stechcon had been in legal trouble before and “would spend seventeen more years locked up” and (2) the court erred in giving a jury instruction on general intent because it was not applicable to any of the charged offenses. OPINION HOLDS: The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion for mistrial and any alleged error in providing the general-intent instruction was harmless. We affirm.
