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State of Iowa
v.
Oscar Chavez
Appellee
State of Iowa
Appellant
Oscar Chavez
Attorney for the Appellee
Aaron Rogers, Assistant Attorney General
Attorney for the Appellant
Rachel C. Regenold, Assistant Appellate Defender
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, Jennifer Miller, Judge. AFFIRMED. Heard by Greer, P.J., and Schumacher and Ahlers, JJ. Opinion by Ahlers, J. (9 pages)
Oscar Chavez appeals his conviction for murder in the first degree. He claims the district court erred by refusing to instruct the jury on voluntary manslaughter as a lesser-included offense and abused its discretion by refusing to admit expert testimony discussing obsessive compulsive disorder. OPINION HOLDS: Chavez did not establish sufficient evidence to support a factual basis for the serious provocation element of voluntary manslaughter, so the court did not err in refusing to submit a voluntary manslaughter instruction to the jury. Because the record contained no evidence that Chavez has obsessive compulsive disorder, the court did not abuse its discretion when it refused to admit the expert testimony on the disorder as not relevant and unduly confusing.
