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State of Iowa
v.
Raymond Duke Birden
Appellee
State of Iowa
Appellant
Raymond Duke Birden
Attorney for the Appellee
Genevieve Reinkoester, Assistant Attorney General
Attorney for the Appellant
Robert P. Montgomery
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Linda Fangman, Judge. CONVICTION CONDITIONALLY AFFIRMED, SENTENCE VACATED, AND REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS. Heard by Bower, C.J., Tabor, J., and Gamble, S.J. Opinion by Bower, C.J. (20 pages)
Raymond Duke Birden appeals his conviction for first-degree murder, asserting the court erred in not submitting to the jury the question of whether DeQundes Glasper was an accomplice whose incriminating testimony requires corroboration. Birden also contends the trial court erred in denying his motion for new trial based on the weight of the evidence. OPINION HOLDS: We find no error in the court’s ruling that Birden failed to meet his threshold burden to prove by a preponderance of the evidence Glasper was an accomplice. We conditionally affirm Birden’s conviction, but we remand for the district court to consider the motion for new trial employing the appropriate standard.
