The Iowa Court of Appeals upheld the July 19, 2011, second-degree murder conviction of Newton resident Jay Dee Mack on Wednesday following his appeal alleging the Jasper County District Court made several procedural errors during the course of the trial.

Mack, 44, was sentenced to 50 years in prison in August 2011 for the October 2010 shooting death of his 43-year-old girlfriend Angie Ancer. Mack argued the district court erred in denying his motion for acquittal. The appellate court reviewed the case proceedings and found that the acquittal motion was entered at the end of the State’s argument.

Mack attests prosecutors failed to prove specific intent in the shooting, arguing his blood alcohol content, which registered at .176 four hours after the shooting, “resulted in his inability to form specific intent” required for his original charge of first-degree murder. The appellate judges found the lower court’s decision was sound in its decision.