State v. Elam

CARTER, Justice.

Defendant Daniel Elam appeals from his conviction of first-degree murder in violation of Iowa Code section 707.2 (1979). He contends the trial court erred in the following particulars: (1) in excluding expert testimony offered in support of his claim of justification, (2) in instructing the jury that it might infer malice from the use of a dangerous weapon, (3) in admitting a witness’s testimony concerning a threat made to her by a person who was with defendant at the time of the murder, and (4) in not directing a verdict of acquittal for defendant on the issue of…