Joshua Pendleton, 37, of Fort Dodge, is accused of killing Henderson in the parking lot of St. Paul Lutheran Church on the evening of Oct. 2, 2019. He was charged with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery.

Pendleton’s jury trial is scheduled to start April 19 at the Scott County Courthouse in Davenport. The venue for the trial was moved to Scott County by order of the court in July after the defense attorneys raised concern about extensive pretrial media coverage possibly impeding the impartiality of the jury pool.

District Court Judge Gina Badding listened to arguments on the state’s and the defense’s motions in limine on Friday.

A motion in limine is a tool to limit testimony to keep witnesses or attorneys from talking in front of the jury about certain matters that are not relevant or otherwise not admissible at trial.

The top items of contention in the motions were references to a lawsuit between Fort Dodge police Detective Larry Hedlund and his former employer, the Iowa Department of Public Safety; testimony from two mental health professionals on their evaluation of Pendleton in January 2020; testimony on Pendleton’s behavior or state of mind while in jail awaiting trial; whether to refer to the victim as “Pastor Henderson”; and testimony from the medical examiner concerning the manner of death.

The defense seeks to prevent the state from making any reference of the victim as “Pastor Henderson,” rather than “Mr. Henderson” or to Henderson’s profession as an ordained minister.

“It engenders sympathy with the jury and I think that it’s too prejudicial for the state to be allowed to do that,” argued defense attorney Michelle Wolf.

The fact that Henderson was a pastor will come into evidence at some point, Wolf conceded, adding that her concern is the state excessively referring to Henderson as “Pastor.”

State Assistant Attorney General Doug Hammerand argued that this request is like not using the honorific “Dr.” when referring to a doctor.

“We’re not trying to garner sympathy, that’s just his title,” Hammerand said.

Badding said she would take this request under advisement and look into other cases that may have set precedent in relation to this issue.

The autopsy report is also under scrutiny for admission at trial.

According to the defense’s motion, the report from Dr. Michele Catellier, a pathologist with the Iowa State Medical Examiner’s Office, lists the manner of death in this case as “homicide.” The defense argued that because Catellier’s definition of “homicide” includes an element of intent, the report should not be admissible, as forensic pathologists define it as “death at the hands of another.”

“I think she can certainly testify as to the cause of death and all of the things she observed in conducting her autopsy,” Wolf said. “However, given her definition of homicide, I think that any testimony as to the manner of death would constitute improper opinion testimony.”

The state’s argument is that Catellier’s use of the word “homicide” is a medical finding, not a legal finding.

Badding said she will also take this request under advisement and issue a written ruling.

The state moved to prevent any reference to a pending lawsuit between Hedlund and the Department of Public Safety, including any records obtained from the lawsuit. The state argued that this pending lawsuit is not relevant to Pendleton’s pending charges.

The defense disagrees, saying that because the lawsuit is about the circumstances surrounding Hedlund’s termination from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation it is relevant impeachment evidence.

The state also wishes to omit any testimony from two mental health providers who evaluated Pendleton’s competency for trial in January 2020, as well as any testimony concerning Pendleton’s behavior or state of mind while he was in jail awaiting trial.

Hammerand said he’s concerned that if the witnesses testify about Pendleton’s competency to stand trial, the jury will get that confused with his mental health status the night of the alleged crime.

“The issue in this case is at the time of the event, what was the defendant’s state of mind?” Hammerand said. “His state of mind a week later, a month later, six months later, is not relevant for insanity.”

The defense argued that testimony from the mental health providers is relevant to Pendleton’s mental status and mental health diagnoses.

“The defendant has to prove he was suffering from a mental defect and we can’t do that without expert testimony to say that he had a mental defect,” Wolf said.

Badding said she will take these requests from the state under advisement and will address the subjects as they come up in trial.

Pendleton’s trial is scheduled to start April 19 and is expected to take about two weeks.