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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 6-662 / 05-0990 Filed November 16, 2006

STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. RICHARD LEE CHRISTIANSEN, Defendant-Appellant. ________________________________________________________________

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

Defendant appeals his conviction following a jury trial for two counts of first-degree murder. AFFIRMED.

Scott L. Bandstra, Des Moines, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Thomas S. Tauber, Assistant Attorney General, John P. Sarcone, County Attorney, and Dan Voogt and Mike Hunter, Assistant County Attorneys, for appellee.

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

2 MAHAN, P.J. Richard Lee Christiansen appeals from his conviction following a jury trial for two counts of first-degree murder. We affirm. I. Background Facts and Proceedings On February 26, 2001, the bodies of Steve Jenkins and Jeff Johnson were found in Johnson's home in Des Moines. Each man had been shot twice with a shotgun. In October 2004 the State filed a trial information charging Christiansen and Robert Jordan, Jr. with two counts of first-degree murder, in violation of Iowa Code sections 707.1 and 707.2 (2003). The district court denied Christiansen's motion to suppress, and the matter proceeded to jury trial. 1 Christiansen, testifying in his own defense at trial, described himself as a "professional criminal" and an "authority on armed robbery." He explained his involvement in manufacturing methamphetamine, burglary, car theft rings, and fencing operations. He added, One of the things that I do, and have done for many years in California, I had never done it in Iowa, but I have done it for many, many years, countless times, is collect money for people in the drug business who are owed, who can't collect it themselves for one reason or another. In early February 2001 Christiansen abandoned his job and failed to return to the work release center where he was living at the time. He drove to

Rockford, Illinois, to the home of Mark and Emily Tongue. Mark was in jail in Las Vegas, and Emily was behind in her rent and in need of money. Christiansen decided to commit a robbery to help Emily. He returned to Des Moines,

1

Jordan was convicted by a jury of two counts of first-degree murder in a separate trial.

3 committed a robbery using a shotgun owned by Mark Tongue, and returned to the Tongues' house in Rockford on February 13 or 14. Jordan, a close friend and "crime partner" of Christiansen's, showed up at Christiansen's house in Des Moines after being released from prison. Jordan agreed to participate in another robbery Christiansen had planned. Jordan

traveled to Rockford, and the two men committed a second robbery on February 16, using Mark Tongue's shotgun. Two days later, Christiansen and Jordan returned to Des Moines. Around February 20, Christiansen and Jordan visited Christiansen's friend Mike Hardin, a drug dealer, to get methamphetamine. Hardin complained of a fellow drug dealer who had owed him a $1500 drug debt for six months and would not pay. Hardin asked Christiansen to collect the debt. Christiansen

testified at trial that he refused. On Friday, February 23, Steven Jenkins borrowed his girlfriend's car with the understanding he would bring it back later in the evening. Jenkins did not return the car, and his girlfriend, Glenda Chiles, did not hear anything from him for several days. 2 On Monday, February 26, Chiles and her niece drove to the home of Jeff Johnson, Jenkins's friend and a fellow drug user, and found the bodies of Johnson and Jenkins inside. Each had been shot twice with a shotgun that police eventually determined was the one belonging to Mark Tongue. The medical examiner opined that based on the state of decomposition of the bodies,

2

Chiles testified she did not call police because she knew Jenkins used drugs and she did not want to get anyone "in trouble."

4 the shooting had occurred in the late evening of February 23 or early morning of February 24. Christiansen testified that he and Jordan drove to Hardin's house the evening of February 23-24, looking for Hardin. Jordan waited in the car, and Christiansen went into the house and spoke to Hardin's girlfriend, who told him Hardin was not there. James "Wally" Marts, who lived in Hardin's basement, testified Christiansen appeared "high" or "high strung" and told him that "something had gone bad." On February 24, Christiansen's wife, Erika, picked up Mark Tongue, who had been released from jail, at the bus station in Des Moines and took him to the motel where Christiansen and Jordan were staying. Erika also brought a 9mm pistol she had bought that day. Christiansen, Jordan, and Tongue drove to

Rockford on February 26. Christiansen and Jordan stayed with the Tongues for several days. On March 2 Christiansen and Jordan robbed a bank in Rockford. Christiansen carried the 9mm pistol during the robbery, and Jordan carried the shotgun that had been used to kill Jenkins and Johnson. The two men were arrested for the robbery two days later, and Christiansen was eventually sentenced to federal prison. In January 2002 police discussed the murders of Jenkins and Johnson with Hardin, who was in jail on drug charges. As a result of this conversation, officers traveled to Rockford, where they interviewed the Tongues and took custody of evidence, including the shotgun and pistol, that officers had seized when Christiansen and Jordan were arrested. The ongoing investigation led

5 officers to the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, where they spoke with Christiansen. The State eventually charged Christiansen and Jordan with two counts of first-degree murder. At trial, Christiansen claimed that Jordan admitted killing Jensen and Johnson while trying to collect the $1500 debt on his own. The jury found Christiansen guilty of two counts of first-degree murder. sentenced Christiansen to two consecutive terms of life imprisonment. Christiansen appeals, arguing the district court erred in (1) failing to grant his motion to suppress, (2) failing to grant his motion for new trial, and (3) admitting certain evidence at trial. Christiansen also asks us to preserve The court

potential claims for postconviction relief proceedings. 3 Additional facts will be presented as they relate to the issues raised on appeal. II. Evidentiary Rulings A. Motion to Suppress 1. Statements to Officers. On July 10, 2002, Des Moines Police

Officers David Ness and Dennis O'Donnell traveled to the federal penitentiary in Terre Haute, Indiana, hoping to interview Christiansen about the murders of Jenkins and Johnson. Christiansen was brought into an office where the officers were waiting. The officers introduced themselves and explained they were there

3

Christiansen asks us to preserve for possible postconviction proceedings claims of prosecutorial misconduct and trial counsel's failure to interview unidentified witnesses. These claims are too general in nature to address or preserve. Dunbar v. State, 515 N.W.2d 12, 15 (Iowa 1994). But see Iowa Code

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