State v. Rainer

WAHL, Justice.

Joseph Rainer was convicted of murder in the first degree in connection with the shooting death of Marla Forrest in violation of Minn.Stat. § 609.185(1) (1986) after a jury trial from April 22 to May 7, 1986, and was sentenced to life imprisonment. He appeals on four grounds: intrusion by a state investigator into the activities of the defense’s expert witness; sufficiency of the evidence; the admission of Spreigl evidence; and the denial of a Schwartz hearing. We affirm the conviction.

Defendant and Marla Forrest had known each other since the summer of 1983 when Forrest began…