Man convicted of killing Iowa football coach asks judge for new trial

Man convicted in coach’s killing wants new trial

IOWA CITY, Iowa — The man convicted of killing an Iowa high school football coach has requested a new trial, saying the judge misdirected the jury.

Mark D. Becker is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday to a mandatory life in prison for killing Ed Thomas on June 24, 2009. A jury convicted 24-year-old Becker on March 2 of first-degree murder, rejecting the claim that he was legally insane when he shot Thomas.

Becker’s attorney, Susan Flander, wrote in a motion for a new trial filed Thursday that Judge Stephen Carroll erred by not reading certain instructions to the jury that she requested, and that the verdict was “contrary to the law” because Becker proved he had been insane at the time of the shooting.

Carroll said Tuesday he will rule on the motion Wednesday.