State of Iowa v. Charles Lee Brumley

• Court: Court of Appeals of Iowa
• Decided: June 5, 2024
• Docket: 23-1693
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA

No. 23-1693 Filed June 5, 2024

STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee,

vs.

CHARLES LEE BRUMLEY, Defendant-Appellant. ________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jasper County, Charles C. Sinnard,

Judge.

Charles Brumley appeals his sentence following his guilty plea to theft in

the third degree. APPEAL DISMISSED.

John C. Heinicke of Kragnes & Associates, P.C., Des Moines, for appellant.

Brenna Bird, Attorney General, and Martha E. Trout, Assistant Attorney

General, for appellee.

Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Chicchelly and Buller, JJ. 2

AHLERS, Presiding Judge.

Pursuant to a plea agreement, Charles Brumley pleaded guilty to theft in

the third degree in 2013. He failed to appear for sentencing, so a warrant was

issued for his arrest. He was apprehended in 2023, and a sentencing hearing was

rescheduled.

At the sentencing hearing, the State detailed the contents of the plea

agreement the parties had reached before Brumley absconded and expressed the

State’s willingness to continue to follow the agreement. The State recited a joint

sentencing recommendation requesting the court to impose a prison sentence not

to exceed two years, a $625 suspended fine, and a surcharge.1 Brumley confirmed

the accuracy of the State’s description of the plea agreement. He joined in the

State’s recommendation. The court imposed the agreed-upon sentence.

Brumley appeals, claiming the court imposed an illegal sentence by

suspending the fine without also placing him on probation. The State argues that

this court lacks jurisdiction to hear Brumley’s appeal because Brumley does not

have good cause to appeal.

We agree with the State. Iowa Code section 814.6(1)(a)(3) (2023) prohibits

criminal defendants from appealing following a guilty plea except when they plead

to a class “A” felony or they establish good cause to appeal. Brumley did not plead

guilty to a class “A” felony, so the only remaining option for Brumley to meet the

statutory exception is to establish good cause. In State v. Damme, the supreme

court concluded defendants have good cause to appeal when they challenge their

1 The recommended fine of $625 was the statutory minimum when Brumley committed the offense in 2013. Iowa Code § 903.1(2) (2013). 3

sentence rather than the guilty plea itself if the sentence is neither mandatory nor

agreed to as part of a plea agreement. 944 N.W.2d 98, 105 (Iowa 2020). Brumley

does not meet the good cause standard declared in Damme because the sentence

he received is the sentence Brumley agreed to pursuant to the plea agreement.

Because Brumley received the sentence he agreed to in the plea agreement, he

does not have good cause to appeal, and his appeal must be dismissed. See

State v. Estabrook, No. 22-1118, 2023 WL 2671954, at *1 (Iowa Court App.

Mar. 29, 2023) (dismissing appeal for lack of good cause following a guilty plea

when the defendant receives the agreed-upon sentence).

APPEAL DISMISSED.