State v. Freeman

404 N.W.2d 188, 1987 Iowa App. LEXIS 1544
CourtCourt of Appeals of Iowa
DecidedFebruary 25, 1987
Docket86-630
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 404 N.W.2d 188 (State v. Freeman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Freeman, 404 N.W.2d 188, 1987 Iowa App. LEXIS 1544 (iowactapp 1987).

Opinion

HAYDEN, Judge.

On March 29, 1985, a Des Moines car salesman attempted to sell a 1982 Lincoln Continental to a man he later identified as Mr. Freeman, the defendant. At that time he wrote up a purchase agreement for the automobile, with defendant’s name on it, but defendant never made a deposit and the salesman was unable to contact defendant. Over the weekend of May 30, 1985, the Continental which defendant had agreed to purchase was stolen from the dealership. Later, on Thursday, April 4, 1985, Wyoming police apprehended defendant in the stolen automobile with the March 29 purchase agreement in his possession. Defendant was accused of second-degree burglary and first-degree theft. At trial the court sustained the State’s motion to dismiss the second-degree burglary count.

Prior to trial, defendant filed notice of his intent to present an insanity and/or diminished capacity defense. At a bench trial, on October 8 and 9, 1985, defendant presented deposition testimony of a psychiatrist and a psychologist both of which concluded with “reasonable certainty” that defendant was suffering from multiple personalities. They tempered their diagnoses by explaining no other personalities appeared during their examination, and evidence of malingering was present. In rebuttal, the state offered expert testimony disagreeing with the multiple personality diagnosis.

On March 4, 1986, the trial court permitted defendant to present additional testimony by the psychologist concerning a second *190 personality of defendant. The psychologist testified a new personality, Roberto Luigi Startino, had been encountered in a subsequent examination. He concluded Startino, the dominate personality was completely unaware of Freeman, the subpersonality. From this testimony defendant reasoned the only conclusion was that the dominant personality was unaware of the criminal behavior of the subpersonality, therefore defendant could not have possessed the required knowledge. Defendant moved for judgment of acquittal at the end of the State’s case and his own, on the grounds the State failed to present sufficient evidence showing he knew or had reasonable cause to believe the car in his possession was stolen. The trial court overruled both motions.

The trial court rejected defendant’s diminished capacity defense. The court found the defendant regarded himself as Robert Freeman at the time of the incident and was fully aware of what he was doing; in other words he knew the automobile was stolen. The court also concluded the defense of diminish capacity and/or insanity was not supported by the evidence, and the State had disproved beyond a reasonable doubt the defense of diminished responsibility. Specifically the court found: defendant presented conflicting testimony, the evidence presented controverted defendant’s theory that he was suffering from multiple personality disorder, and the State’s expert testimony overcame any evidence regarding multiple personalities presented by the defendant. The trial court found defendant guilty and sentenced him to an indeterminate prison term not to exceed ten years.

At the sentencing hearing, on April 29, 1986, the trial court failed to specifically identify its reasons for imposing the sentence. After the trial court rendered judgment and imposed the sentence, the following exchange occurred:

MS. ODELL: Mr. Freeman is there anything you would like to say to the Court?
THE DEFENDANT: No.
THE COURT: You sure? You got anything you want to say?
THE DEFENDANT: No.

Defendant contends: (1) the State failed to present sufficient evidence that he knew or had reason to know the automobile was stolen; (2) the trial court failed to state sufficient reasons, on the record, for imposing a prison sentence rather than placing him on probation; and (3) the trial court erred in denying him his right to allocation where he was not given the opportunity to speak in mitigation of punishment until after judgment was rendered and sentence pronounced.

This is a criminal action tried to the court, therefore our review is limited to errors in law. Iowa R.App.P. 4. The trial court’s findings of fact are binding upon us if supported by substantial evidence. Iowa R.App.P. 14(f)(1). We view the evidence in a light most consistent with the lower court’s judgment. R.E.T. Corporation v. Frank Paxton Company, Inc., 329 N.W.2d 416, 419 (Iowa 1983). The reviewing court is not bound by the trial court’s determination of law. Mosebach v. Blythe, 282 N.W.2d 755, 758 (Iowa App.1979).

I.

Initially, defendant argues there was insufficient evidence in the record for a rational fact finder to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that he acted with knowledge required under Iowa Code section 714.1(4) (1985). Defendant asserts since Startino was the dominate personality, any act by Freeman was unknown to Startino.

Section 714.1(4) (1985) of the Iowa Code provides in pertinent part:

A person commits theft when the person does any of the following:
4. Exercises control over stolen property, knowing such property to have been stolen, or having reasonable cause to believe that such property has been stolen, unless the person’s purpose is to promptly restore it to the owner or to deliver it to an appropriate public officer.

The State had the burden of proving each and every element of theft in the first degree. In re Winship, 397 U.S. 358, 364, *191 90 S.Ct. 1068, 1073, 25 L.Ed.2d 368, 375 (1970).

When considering a challenge to the sufficiency of the evidence we view the evidence in a light most favorable to the State and we consider all evidence and inferences that may be drawn from it. State v. Craney, 347 N.W.2d 668, 680 (Iowa 1984), cert. denied, 469 U.S. 884, 105 S.Ct. 255, 83 L.Ed.2d 192 (1984); State v. Robinson, 288 N.W.2d 337, 340 (Iowa 1980). Evidence is sufficient to sustain the verdict where there is substantial evidence from which a rational fact finder could determine defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Robinson, 288 N.W.2d at 341; State v. Mitchell, 371 N.W.2d 432 (Iowa Ct.App.1985).

After a thorough review of the . record we conclude the trial court was correct in finding defendant knew what he was doing and he knew the automobile was stolen. We also concur with the conclusion that the evidence presented in the record refutes defendants argument he was suffering from a multiple personality disorder at the time of the offense. Mr. Robert Freeman discussed the sale of the automobile on March 29, 1985, the automobile was stolen from the dealership the following weekend, and Mr.

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Bluebook (online)
404 N.W.2d 188, 1987 Iowa App. LEXIS 1544, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-freeman-iowactapp-1987.