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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 2-277 / 11-1536 Filed June 13, 2012 STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. DAVID JAMES STEFFEN, Defendant-Appellant. ________________________________________________________________ Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Tama County, Marsha Beckelman, Judge.

Defendant appeals his convictions for second-degree burglary and assault while participating in a felony. AFFIRMED.

Mark C. Smith, State Appellate Defender, and David Arthur Adams, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant. Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Sheryl A. Soich, Assistant Attorney General, and Brent Heeren, County Attorney, for appellee.

Considered by Tabor, P.J., Mullins, J., and Sackett, S.J.* *Senior Judge assigned by order pursuant to Iowa Code section 602.9206 (2011).

2 SACKETT, S.J. Defendant David Steffen appeals his convictions for assault while participating in a felony and second-degree burglary, claiming the court should have granted his motion for judgment of acquittal.1 We affirm. On June 27, 2010, David Steffen went to the home of his ex-wife, Cynthia Steffen, at about 6:00 a.m. and parked in her driveway. He left after about ten minutes. At about 9:00 a.m., Steffen returned. He got out of the car and rang the front doorbell three or four times. Cynthia did not want to speak to him so she did not answer the door. Steffen walked to the back of the house, and then returned to the front door where he again rang the doorbell and knocked on the door. He also telephoned Cynthia, leaving three messages on her answering machine demanding that she open the door. Steffen was very angry, yelling and swearing at Cynthia. Cynthia decided to open the inner door, but left the screen door closed. She stated she decided to "let him yell at me, get it out of his system, and then hopefully he would leave." Steffen stated he wanted to talk to Cynthia about some jointly-owned property, but would not talk to her through the screen door. Cynthia refused to come outside or allow Steffen inside the house. Cynthia

stated, "[h]e continued to rant and yell and curse and not want to talk about anything constructive," so she shut the inner door and locked it.

1

We recognize that both parties have questioned whether this issue was preserved for our review. Generally, issues must be decided by the district court before we will review them on appeal. See State v. Manna, 534 N.W.2d 642, 644 (Iowa 1995). Although the district court did not specifically rule on Steffen's motion for judgment of acquittal, by submitting all three counts to the jury, the court impliedly denied the motion. We conclude the issue has been preserved, and we will address it on the merits.

3 Steffen crashed through the screen door and the inner door and came into Cynthia's house. Cynthia yelled at him to leave, stating she was going to call the police. Steffen kept coming toward her with his arms raised. Cynthia picked up a cordless telephone, and Steffen caught up to her. Cynthia testified Steffen grabbed her robe. She stated, "it appeared he was trying to grab my arm or a part of my body so he would have a firm grip, but all he was getting was my robe." With his other hand Steffen was batting at Cynthia's hand in an attempt to get the telephone to keep her from calling the police. Cynthia was able to run out the back door onto the patio. Steffen followed her and stood about three or four feet away. Cynthia called 911. Steffen stood staring at her, calling her names. As she was talking to the dispatcher, he left and drove away. Steffen was charged with domestic abuse assault, second offense, in violation of Iowa Code section 708.2A (2009); assault while participating in a felony, in violation of section 708.3, with the underlying felony being burglary; and burglary in the second degree, in violation of section 713.5. He was charged with assault while participating in a felony and second-degree burglary as a habitual offender. The case proceeded to a jury trial on May 2 and 3, 2011. Cynthia testified as outlined above. Steffen admitted kicking in Cynthia's doors, stating he was frustrated and angry. He testified he entered the home and followed her, asking her not to call the police. Steffen denied attempting to grab Cynthia or making any effort to lay a hand on her.

4 At the close of the evidence, defense counsel made a motion for judgment of acquittal, claiming there was insufficient evidence Steffen had any intent to cause harm to Cynthia. There is no indication in the record that the district court specifically ruled upon the motion. The court, however, submitted all three

charges to the jury. The jury found Steffen guilty of domestic abuse assault, assault while participating in a felony, and second-degree burglary. Regarding his habitual offender status, Steffen admitted to two previous felony convictions. The court sentenced Steffen to ninety days in jail on the domestic abuse assault charge, giving him credit for ninety days previously served. He was

sentenced to a term of imprisonment not to exceed fifteen years on the charge of assault while participating in a felony and a term not to exceed fifteen years on the charge of second-degree burglary, to be served concurrently. The offense of burglary requires proof that the defendant has "the intent to commit a felony, assault or theft therein." Iowa Code

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