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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 1-798 / 10-0478 Filed December 7, 2011

STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. LOUIS EUGENE WOOLHEATER, Defendant-Appellant. ________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Joel D. Novak, Judge.

A defendant challenges his judgment and conviction for the offense of first-degree murder, contending (1) the evidence was insufficient to support the jury's finding of guilt, (2) the verdict was contrary to the weight of the evidence, (3) the district court improperly admitted certain evidence, and (4) the district court abused its discretion in overruling his mistrial motion based on claimed prosecutorial misconduct. AFFIRMED.

Susan R. Stockdale, Des Moines, for appellant. Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Thomas S. Tauber, Assistant Attorney General, John P. Sarcone, County Attorney, and Steve Foritano and Mike Salvner, Assistant County Attorneys, for appellee.

Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Potterfield and Doyle, JJ. Tabor, J., takes no part.

2 VAITHESWARAN, P.J. Lance Morningstar's bullet-riddled body was found behind the Altoona home of Louis Woolheater. The State charged Woolheater with first-degree

murder and a jury found him guilty as charged. On appeal, Woolheater contends: (1) the evidence was insufficient to

support the jury's finding of guilt, (2) the verdict was contrary to the weight of the evidence, (3) the district court improperly admitted certain evidence, and (4) the district court abused its discretion in overruling his mistrial motion based on claimed prosecutorial misconduct. I. Sufficiency of the Evidence The jury was instructed that the State would have to prove the following elements of first-degree murder: 1. On or about September 30, 2004, the defendant or someone he aided and abetted shot Lance Morningstar. 2. Lance Morningstar died as a result of being shot. 3. The defendant or someone he aided and abetted acted with malice aforethought. 4. The defendant or someone he aided and abetted acted willfully, deliberately, premeditatedly and with a specific intent to kill Lance Morningstar. See Iowa Code

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