State of Iowa v. Dennis Duane Richards

MANSFIELD, Justice.

Dennis Richards was convicted of see-ond-degree murder and second-degree arson for strangling his ex-wife to death and setting her house on fire. The court of appeals reversed the convictions and remanded for a new trial after concluding Richards should have been allowed to call a physical therapist in his defense, even though the witness had been disclosed a day late. We now vacate the decision of the court of appeals and affirm Richards' convictions. -In our view, even if the district court erred in excluding the therapist, any error was harmless, in light of the…