State of Iowa v. Andre Letroy Antwan Harrington

893 N.W.2d 36, 2017 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 33
Supreme Court of Iowa·Decided April 7, 2017·No. 15–0308·Published·Cited by 64 cases

Opinions

[40]*40CADY, Chief Justice.

In this case, we consider the procedural protections available to a defendant when the State seeks a sentencing enhancement under Iowa’s habitual offender statute. The district court in this case did not inform the defendant of certain constitutional and statutory rights associated with accepting pleas of guilt before accepting his admission to the prior convictions to support the habitual offender status. The court of appeals found the defendant failed to preserve error by filing a motion in arrest of judgment based on his claims of deficiencies in the proceedings. It also concluded the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to permit the admission to be withdrawn. Finally, the court of appeals found that even if there were error, no prejudice resulted. On further review, we vacate the decision of the court of appeals, reverse the district court, and remand the case for a trial on the defendant’s habitual offender status.

I. Factual Background and Proceedings.

Andre Letroy Antwan Harrington was arrested and charged with the crime of robbery in the second degree. See Iowa Code § 711.1 (2013) (“A person commits a robbery when, having the intent to commit a theft, the person ... [cjommits an assault upon another.”); id. § 711.3 (“All robbery which is not robbery in the first degree is robbery in the second degree. Robbery in the second degree is a class ‘C’ felony.”).1 The State also sought a “habitual offender” sentencing enhancement based on his prior record. See id. § 902.8 (2013) (“An habitual offender is any person convicted of a class ‘C’ or a class ‘D’ felony, who has twice before been convicted of any felony in a court of this or any other state, or of the United States.”). Under the habitual offender statute, instead of a ten-year sentence, Harrington faced a fifteen-year sentence. See id. §§ 902.8, .9(3)-(4).

The minutes of testimony revealed the State planned to call designees of the Scott County jail and Jasper County clerk of court to testify Harrington was convicted of the crime of going armed with intent in 2000 and the crime of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver in 2009. The State also attached a report from the National Crime Information Center identifying the two prior felony convictions.

The case proceeded to a jury trial on the charge of robbery in the second degree. Harrington testified in his defense, and evidence of his prior felony convictions was admitted during his testimony. The jury returned a verdict of guilty. The district court proceeded to consider the habitual offender sentencing enhancement.

Outside the presence of the jury, the district court asked Harrington if he wanted to stipulate to the two prior felony convictions in support of the habitual offender enhancement or if he wanted the issue decided by the jury. Harrington acknowledged the two prior felony convictions, but expressed his desire for the matter to be decided by the jury. After a spirited colloquy, the district court accepted Harrington’s admission to the prior felonies and concluded no jury determination was needed because Harrington admitted to the prior convictions. During the colloquy, Harrington was informed that his ad[41]*41mission meant he was no longer entitled to a trial.

The district court subsequently sentenced Harrington for the crime of robbery in the second degree as a habitual offender. He was sentenced to fifteen years in prison, with a mandatory minimum period of incarceration of seventy percent before eligibility for parole.

Harrington appealed. He claimed the courtroom habitual offender colloquy was deficient for two reasons. First, he claimed the colloquy failed to show his admission to the prior offenses was made voluntarily and intelligently. Second, he asserted the colloquy failed to identify evidence to show he was represented by counsel or waived counsel in the cases involving the prior convictions. Harrington also claimed the district court should have construed his request during the colloquy for a trial as a request to withdraw his admission, and it abused its discretion in refusing the request.

We transferred the case to the court of appeals. The court of appeals affirmed the judgment and sentence of the district court. It found Harrington failed to preserve error concerning deficiencies in the habitual offender colloquy by failing to file a motion in arrest of judgment following the habitual offender hearing and by also failing to object to the deficiencies at the time of the colloquy. The court of appeals also concluded the district court did not abuse its discretion by failing to allow Harrington to withdraw his admission to the prior felony convictions after he expressed his desire for the jury to decide the matter. We granted further review.

II. Standard of Review.

“Claims involving the interpretation of a statute or rule are usually reviewed for errors at law.” State v. Kukowski, 704 N.W.2d 687, 690-91 (Iowa 2005); see also Iowa R. App. P. 6.907. However, to the extent our review extends beyond the habitual offender statute and into claims having a constitutional basis, our review is de novo. See Kukowski, 704 N.W.2d at 690.

III. Preservation of Error.

We first consider whether Harrington has preserved error for appeal on his claims of deficiency in the habitual offender colloquy. He failed to assert an objection to any deficiencies during the habitual offender colloquy and did not file a motion in arrest of judgment prior to sentencing.

A motion in arrest of judgment is an application by a defendant in a criminal case that no judgment should be entered “on a finding, plea, or verdict of guilty.” Iowa R. Crim. P. 2.24(3)(a). The rule serves as a vehicle to bring a variety of claims before the court. See State v. Oldfather, 306 N.W.2d 760, 762 (Iowa 1981). The motion is granted when the whole record shows no legal judgment can be pronounced. Iowa R. Crim. P. 2.24(3)(a). One type of claim identified by the rule that must be raised in the motion is a challenge to the adequacy of a guilty plea proceeding. Id. It is a claim that no judgment should be entered on a “plea ... of guilt[]” because deficiencies in the proceedings rendered the plea involuntary. Id. The rule states, “A defendant’s failure to challenge the adequacy of the guilty plea proceeding by a motion in arrest of judgment shall preclude the defendant’s right to assert such a challenge on appeal.” Id. Thus, the motion is both a procedural mechanism to raise claims of error and an error preservation requirement. The question is whether both components of the motion are applicable to claims of error in habitual offender admission proceedings.

[42]*42We have repeatedly said that an admission by an offender to the prior convictions to support sentencing as a habitual offender is comparable to a plea of guilty to support sentencing for the crime identified in the plea. Kukowski, 704 N.W.2d at 692; State v. Brady, 442 N.W.2d 57

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State of Iowa v. Andre Letroy Antwan Harrington, 893 N.W.2d 36, 2017 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 33 (iowa 2017).

893 N.W.2d 36 (State of Iowa v. Andre Letroy Antwan Harrington) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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