Gustaf Roy Carlson v. State of Iowa

• Court: Court of Appeals of Iowa
• Decided: August 6, 2025
• Docket: 24-0716
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA

No. 24-0716 Filed August 6, 2025

GUSTAF ROY CARLSON, Applicant-Appellant,

vs.

STATE OF IOWA, Respondent-Appellee. ________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, Adria Kester, Judge.

Gustaf Carlson appeals the dismissal of his application for postconviction

relief. AFFIRMED.

James S. Blackburn, Des Moines, for appellant.

Brenna Bird, Attorney General, and Zachary Miller, Assistant Attorney

General, for appellee.

Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., Schumacher, J., and

Vogel, S.J.*

*Senior judge assigned by order pursuant to Iowa Code section 602.9206

(2025). 2

VOGEL, Senior Judge.

In 2023, the State charged Gustaf Carlson with possession of a controlled

substance with intent to deliver (methamphetamine), second offense, which was

enhanced as a habitual offender. Carlson waived his right to counsel and

represented himself in those proceedings.1 He pled guilty as charged, and the

district court informed him of the necessity to file a motion in arrest of judgment to

challenge any component of his plea prior to sentencing. See Iowa R. Crim.

P. 2.24(3)(a)(2) (“A defendant’s failure to challenge the adequacy of a guilty plea

proceeding by motion in arrest of judgment shall preclude the defendant’s right to

assert such challenge on appeal.”). Carlson waived that right by requesting

immediate sentencing. Months after sentencing, Carlson filed an affidavit claiming

he acted under duress when he pled guilty; the district court took no responsive

action. He did not file an appeal.

Carlson then initiated this postconviction-relief (PCR) action, which the

State moved to dismiss. Following a hearing, the PCR court granted the State’s

motion and dismissed Carlson’s PCR application. Carlson now appeals, arguing

his guilty plea was not voluntary because he pled guilty under duress.2

The problem for Carlson is that Iowa Code section 822.2(2) (2023) makes

clear that PCR proceedings are “not a substitute for . . . direct review of the

sentence or conviction” in the underlying criminal case. And section 822.8 explains

that “[a]ny ground . . . not raised . . . in the proceeding that resulted in the

1 The district court appointed Carlson standby counsel. 2 We review PCR proceedings for correction of legal error. See Moon v. State, 911 N.W.2d 137, 142 (Iowa 2018). To the extent “the basis for relief implicates a violation of constitutional dimension, our review is de novo.” Id. 3

conviction or sentence . . . may not be the basis” for a PCR action “unless the court

finds . . . sufficient reason [it] was not asserted.”3 Accord Osborn v. State, 573

N.W.2d 917, 921 (Iowa 1998). Carlson had the opportunity to raise his challenge

to the voluntariness of his plea by filing a motion in arrest of judgment. See

Jackson, 2022 WL 951191, at *2. He chose instead to waive that right by

requesting immediate sentencing and did not file a direct appeal. Therefore the

opportunity for Carlson to challenge the voluntariness of his guilty plea has passed,

and he cannot raise the claim on PCR. See Wenman v. State, 327 N.W.2d 216,

217–18 (Iowa 1982); see also Jackson, 2022 WL 951191, at *1–2.

We affirm the PCR court’s dismissal of Carlson’s PCR application.

AFFIRMED.

3 Often PCR applicants argue the failure to raise a claim in the underlying criminal

proceedings was the result of ineffective assistance of counsel. See Jackson v. State, No. 21-0140, 2022 WL 951191, at *2 n.2 (Iowa Ct. App. Mar. 30, 2022). But because Carlson represented himself, he cannot now claim ineffective assistance of counsel. See State v. Hutchinson, 341 N.W.2d 33, 42 (Iowa 1983) (“[T]he defendant cannot knowingly and intelligently make an election to proceed pro se and then . . . claim[] ineffective assistance of counsel.”).