State v. Rand

268 N.W.2d 642, 1979 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 893
CourtSupreme Court of Iowa
DecidedJuly 26, 1979
Docket60417
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 268 N.W.2d 642 (State v. Rand) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court 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. Rand, 268 N.W.2d 642, 1979 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 893 (iowa 1979).

Opinion

REYNOLDSON, Justice.

Defendant’s appeal attacks the validity of his guilty plea to a murder charge arising from the fatal shooting of a Quik Trip store attendant in Waterloo on June 8, 1976.

September 24, 1976, defendant was charged with murder “perpetrated in the course of a robbery” in violation of “Section 690.2 of the 1975 Code of Iowa.”

November 12,1976, defendant pled guilty in an extensive plea hearing which is before us in a 50-page transcript.

November 30, 1976, the degree-of-guilt hearing was held. It comprises 271 tran *645 script pages. Defendant was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Defendant’s trial counsel served notice of appeal, followed by a well-organized motion to withdraw on the ground the appeal was frivolous. See rule 104, Rules of Appellate Procedure. Defendant, responding to the rule 104(b) notice, requested other counsel. Present counsel was then appointed. The appeal proceeded and we now affirm.

Defendant asserts his conviction should be set aside and his guilty plea vacated on grounds identified in the divisions which follow.

I. Was defendant’s guilty plea knowingly and voluntarily entered ?

Defendant argues his plea was not voluntarily and intelligently entered, in violation of the due process clauses of the state and federal constitutions, because he did not understand the nature of the charge. See State v. Lemburg, 257 N.W.2d 39, 41 (Iowa 1977); State v. Wall, 239 N.W.2d 548, 549 (Iowa 1976).

Defendant initially asserts confusion as to whether he “was pleading to an open count of murder under Section 690.1 or instead was pleading to first degree murder under Section 690.2.” Of course the information unnecessarily asserted application of § 690.2. See § 773.35, The Code, 1975 (“Permissible forms * * * Murder—A. B. murdered C. D.”). Reference to § 690.2 was surplusage. State v. Beyer, 258 N.W.2d 353, 357 (Iowa 1977); see § 773.31, The Code, 1975. “Any other construction would nullify the provisions of section 690.4 [degree-of-guilt hearing] whenever a plea of guilty to an indictment or information charging murder, with the surplus allegation ‘in the first degree’, is entered * *.” State v. Martin, 243 Iowa 1323, 1327, 55 N.W.2d 258, 262 (1952).

In the 1975 Code § 690.1 defines murder. Section 690.2 lists the circumstances which enhance punishment for murder to the penalties provided for first-degree murder. Other murder is classified statutorily as second-degree murder. § 690.3.

The total transcript demonstrates defendant well knew he was pleading guilty to murder, with the degree of guilt to be determined on subsequent hearing. The court read the information and code sections 690.1 through 690.4 to defendant. In response to court’s questions, defendant acknowledged he had read the minutes of testimony and that they were substantially true and correct. He had discussed the facts and law thoroughly with his counsel, and fully understood and had executed a detailed written plea of guilty, submitted with his oral plea. At close of hearing defendant asserted he had no difficulty understanding the proceedings, had no questions, and understood a hearing would be held to determine the degree of guilt.

Defendant complains trial court failed to inform him specific intent to commit robbery was an element of felony murder in this case. See State v. Buhr, 243 N.W.2d 546, 549 (Iowa 1976).

Relating to his intent to rob, defendant’s plea hearing testimony included:

THE COURT: On the way home you passed this Quik store or Quik Trip Store?
THE DEFENDANT: Yeah.
THE COURT: What happened then? THE DEFENDANT: We robbed it.
* * * * * *
THE DEFENDANT: See, we were both out of money and he had a gun in his car. I think I was the one that mentioned it, about robbing it. So he said it would be all right. So he pulled off out in the grass. I got the gun out of the car, went around the back of the building and came in through the front.
* * * * * *
THE COURT: What did you intend to do when you left the car with the shotgun in your hand?
THE DEFENDANT: I just meant to get some money.
THE COURT: You were going into the Quik Trip Store and you were going to get some money, right?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.

*646 We will not reverse a judgment based on a guilty plea where trial court did not specifically explain each element of a crime if under all the circumstances it is apparent the accused understood the charge. Hoskins v. State, 246 N.W.2d 266, 268 (Iowa 1976); State v. Townsend, 238 N.W.2d 351, 355 (Iowa 1976). Here defendant’s factual statements and admissions necessarily implied he had the requisite knowledge. See Henderson v. Morgan, 426 U.S. 637, 646, 91 S.Ct. 2253, 2258, 49 L.Ed.2d 108, 115 (1976); State v. Ohnemus, 254 N.W.2d 524, 525 (Iowa 1977). We find no error in this particular.

Defendant contends trial court was aware he entered his plea believing he could be found guilty of manslaughter or second-degree murder, yet failed to correct that belief. He asserts under Iowa law “the judge could not have found manslaughter in this case.”

Manslaughter was first mentioned at the plea hearing after the court read § 690.4 to defendant, relating to the degree-of-guilt hearing, then asked him if he understood the penalties which could be imposed:

THE DEFENDANT: Life in prison, not less than ten years to life and eight years.
THE COURT: Eight years for manslaughter?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: If manslaughter comes into play. I take it you have gone over all this quite thoroughly with your attorneys?
THE DEFENDANT: Yeah.
THE COURT: They have instructed you and advised you of all these different ramifications?
THE DEFENDANT: Yeah.

It is true that defense of limited capacity due to voluntary intoxication (which defendant raised at the subsequent hearing) has been held not to reduce murder to manslaughter. State v. Hall, 214 N.W.2d 205, 207 (Iowa 1974); State v. Wilson, 166 Iowa 309, 322-323, 144 N.W.

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Bluebook (online)
268 N.W.2d 642, 1979 Iowa Sup. LEXIS 893, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-rand-iowa-1979.