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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 6-828 / 05-2074 Filed December 28, 2006

STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. GARY MICHAEL RITCHIE, Defendant-Appellant. ________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Carroll County, Gary L. McMinimee, Judge.

Gary Ritchie appeals his judgment and sentences for assault on a peace officer, going armed with intent, eluding, and two counts of third-degree harassment. AFFIRMED.

Linda Del Gallo, State Appellate Defender, and Greta Truman, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant. Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Sharon K. Hall, Assistant Attorney General, and John Werden, Jr., County Attorney.

Considered by Mahan, P.J., and Miller and Vaitheswaran, JJ.

2 VAITHESWARAN, J. Gary Michael Ritchie had an argument with neighbors that escalated. The State charged Ritchie with several crimes arising from this episode. Prior to trial, Ritchie filed a motion in limine seeking to exclude evidence of firearms and ammunition found in his home as well as testimony regarding a general threat Ritchie made in the past. The district court denied the motion. A jury found him guilty of assault on a peace officer, going armed with intent, eluding, and two counts of third-degree harassment. 708.7, and 708.8 (2005). On appeal, Ritchie challenges the district court's denial of his motion in limine as it related to the firearms in his home and the prior threat. He argues the evidence was not relevant and, accordingly, was not admissible. Relevant evidence is "evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence." Iowa R. Evid. 5.401. If irrelevant evidence is admitted, prejudice is presumed and we reverse unless the record affirmatively establishes otherwise. State v. Sullivan, 679 N.W.2d 19, 30 (Iowa 2004). We need not decide whether the challenged evidence was relevant because, even if it was not, we conclude the district court's admission of the evidence was not prejudicial. Witnesses testified that Ritchie, after drinking a forty-ounce can of beer, went to his neighbor's house with a bottle of Everclear alcohol. He consumed alcohol there and got into an argument with an Iowa Code

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