State of Iowa v. Christopher Wallace Mosset

• Court: Court of Appeals of Iowa
• Decided: February 5, 2025
• Docket: 24-0563
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA

No. 24-0563 Filed February 5, 2025

STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee,

vs.

CHRISTOPHER WALLACE MOSSET, Defendant-Appellant. ________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Warren County, Kevin Parker,

Judge.

The defendant appeals his conviction and sentence for driving while barred.

AFFIRMED.

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

Brenna Bird, Attorney General, and Louis S. Sloven, Assistant Attorney

General, for appellee.

Considered by Tabor, C.J., and Ahlers and Sandy, JJ. 2

TABOR, Chief Judge.

Christopher Mosset appeals his conviction for driving while barred and

contends the district court abused its discretion at sentencing. Substantial

evidence supports the conviction. And Mosset offers no basis for his claim that

the court abused its sentencing discretion. So we affirm by memorandum opinion.

On March 2, 2023, a deputy sheriff ran Mosset’s vehicle plate, which had

an expired registration sticker.1 He discovered that Mosset’s license was barred.

He charged Mosset under Iowa Code section 321.561 (2023). At a bench trial,

Mosset testified he had a temporary restricted license that allowed him to drive

while working. But the district court found “[n]o credible evidence” supporting

Mosset’s explanation that he was working when stopped. On our review of this

record including the trial testimony, the certified abstract of driving record, the

restricted license conditions, and the dashboard camera footage of the vehicle

stop, we find substantial evidence supports the court’s fact findings.

Mosset also contends the district court abused its discretion at sentencing.

But he does not identify any aspect of the sentence or the court’s exercise of its

discretion as deficient, so we consider that claim waived. See Iowa R. App.

P. 6.903(2)(a)(8)(3). Because we find sufficient evidence to convict, and a full

opinion will not augment or clarify the applicable caselaw, we affirm by

memorandum opinion. See Iowa R. App. P. 21.26(1)(b), (e).

1 The deputy ticketed Mosset for the expired registration, but the State later dismissed that charge.