A Minnesota man convicted of first-degree murder in the death of a north-central Iowa man in 2002 will be retried after winning an appeal. The Iowa Court of Appeals has ordered a new trial for 36-year-old Eric Esse of Albert Lea, who was found guilty in October 2003 of first-degree murder and first-degree robbery in the Thanksgiving Day shooting death of Eric Mammen of rural Plymouth. The Appeals Court says Cerro Gordo County District Judge Paul Riffel erred when he refused to give a jury instruction limiting the admissibility of law enforcement agents’ statements and questions during a taped interview of Esse. The Appeals Court says a limiting instruction requested by Esse should have been given to the jury stating the agents’ questions and statements were admissible to place his answers in context, but are nevertheless hearsay.
