A Polk County man convicted of murder will get a new trial after the judge in his case conceded he got a key evidentiary ruling wrong.

Andrew Harris was found guilty in November of the 2022 shooting death of 38-year-old Tyrell Lavell Grimes outside a bar and restaurant on University Avenue in the Drake University Dogtown district. Prosecutors said Harris, 44, was upset after he and Grimes had a disagreement in the bar, and came back eight minutes later with a gun.

Harris’ attorneys argued at trial that the shooting was justified, saying Grimes had threatened Harris and that Harris had come back to try to smooth things over, only to see Grimes pulling out what he thought was a gun. Police did not find a gun on Grimes, although Harris’ attorneys argued his associates had ample time to conceal the weapon before police arrived.

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The jury in November heard that Harris felt threatened by Grimes, but not the exact words that, Harris alleges, Grimes said. That’s because Judge Lawrence McLellan ruled the statement was hearsay and not permissible as evidence.

In a ruling Friday on a motion by Harris’ attorneys for a new trial, McLellan said that was a mistake. Out-of-court statements are admissible as evidence to explain a listener’s reaction or response, including, in this case, Harris’ alleged fear for his life.

“While there was testimony from the defendant regarding the defendant’s perceived threat posed by Grimes the jury did not hear the statements that Grimes allegedly made to him,” McLellan wrote. “They did not know why the defendant felt Grimes was threatening or how he threatened him. Thus, the jury did not have this evidence to assist in their determination whether the defendant’s actions were justified.”

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McLellan accordingly granted Harris’ motion, setting the date for April 22. But he rejected an alternate argument offered by Harris’ attorneys, that the jury’s verdict was “contrary to the weight of the evidence.”

“The greater weight of the evidence supported the finding that the defendant acted willfully, deliberately, and with premeditation or malice aforethought,” McLellan wrote.

Harris’ attorneys declined to comment on the decision.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Man convicted in 2022 shooting death near Drake granted new trial