A man convicted of shooting two people outside a Waterloo nightclub two years ago is getting a new trial. The Iowa Court of Appeals this morning threw out the conviction of Anthony “Elmo” Cole, who was sentenced to 50 years in prison on attempted murder and several other charges for wounding two men outside “Club Crystyles” in March 2004.
The appeals court sided with Cole’s attorney ruling the trial court improperly allowed the jury to hear from a number of witnesses who testified about Cole’s prior criminal record. Prosecutors pushed for the testimony to get a conviction on one of the other charges, but the appeals court said the action was wrong because Cole’s attorney was prepared to tell the jury about his client’s prior record. The 32-year-old Cole will now be re-tried in Black Hawk County District Court.