Opinion ID: 2029756
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Nitcher's claim the district court erred by applying an incorrect standard in overruling his motion for new trial.

Text: The district court has broad discretion in ruling on a motion for new trial, and thus our review in such cases is for abuse of discretion. State v. Reeves, 670 N.W.2d 199, 202 (Iowa 2003). A court may grant a new trial where a verdict rendered by a jury is contrary to law or evidence. Id. at 201. We have held the phrase `contrary to ... evidence' means `contrary to the weight of the evidence.' Id. (citations omitted). Unlike the sufficiency-of-the-evidence analysis, the weight-of-the-evidence analysis is much broader in that it involves questions of credibility and refers to a determination that more credible evidence supports one side than the other. Id. at 202. The district court overruled Nitcher's motion for new trial stating: As I stated during Mr. Hull's hearing, these are essentially a reassertion of the same motions made during trial and for the same reason they are rejected. Mr. Nitcher, the standard here is whether there was evidence from which a jury could find you guilty. The issue is not whether I agree or disagree with that verdict, and I have concluded that there is sufficient evidence to support the verdicts arrived at. So the motion  or motions, rather, are denied. The court's reference to Hull's and Nitcher's motions for directed verdicts of acquittal during the trial where the court used the sufficiency-of-the-evidence standard indicates the court did not engage in any weighing of the evidence or consideration of credibility. See State v. Scalise, 660 N.W.2d 58, 66 (Iowa 2003) (finding a court used the sufficiency-of-the-evidence standard based upon its use of certain language in its ruling, and noting an absence of an independent evaluation of the evidence and determinations of witness credibility). In its brief, the State agrees the district court erred on this matter. Accordingly, we must reverse the district court's ruling denying Nitcher's motion for new trial and remand the case to the district court to rule on his motion for new trial under the correct weight-of-the-evidence standard. See State v. Ellis, 578 N.W.2d 655, 659 (Iowa 1998).