State of Iowa v. Sherral Jermaine Tolbert, Jr.

Summary

The court affirmed Tolbert’s second-degree murder conviction, holding that the jury instructions correctly treated voluntary manslaughter as a lesser included offense whose passion element is incompatible with murder’s malice element. It also held that the prosecutor’s reference to possible punishments during voir dire was not sufficiently prejudicial to require a mistrial and that the prosecutor’s prior employment with the public defender’s office did not create a disqualifying conflict. No separate opinions were filed.