State of Iowa v. Bernard Anthony Smith
State of Iowa v. Bernard Anthony Smith
Opinion
The defendant was convicted of second-degree burglary and stipulated to being a habitual offender. The court sentenced the defendant as a habitual offender, ordered restitution, and imposed a fine. On appeal, we conclude the stipulation was not knowingly and voluntarily made because the stipulation proceedings did not comply with the requirements of
State v. Harrington
,
I. Facts and Proceedings.
On September 27, 2017, the State charged Smith with burglary in the second degree in violation of Iowa Code sections 713.1 and 713.5 (2017), a class "C" felony, and being a habitual offender in violation of section 902.8. Following Smith's not-guilty plea, a bifurcated trial on the burglary charge began on November 28.
While the jury was in deliberations, Smith's counsel informed the court that Smith would stipulate to the predicate priors for the habitual offender charge. The following exchange occurred:
[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Your Honor, I just discussed with my client about the sentencing enhancement charge on the Trial Information of offense of habitual offender and my client has decided that he will withdraw his request for a bifurcated trial and will stipulate to the priors for that particular section should the jury return a guilty verdict that it would be applicable to.
THE COURT: Okay. Very well. Mr. Smith, is that correct?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes, sir.
THE COURT: I told you earlier about the ramifications of doing that. It's your decision and you voluntarily decided that you will stipulate to the habitual offender element of the trial?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: Okay. All right. Thank you. Anything further on behalf of the State?
[THE PROSECUTOR]: No, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Thank you.
[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Thank you, Your Honor.
Subsequently, the jury returned a verdict finding Smith guilty of burglary in the second degree. After the court scheduled sentencing, further discussion regarding Smith's stipulation occurred:
[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: Your Honor, [the prosecutor] brought to my attention a case State v. Harrington ,893 N.W.2d 36 . It concerns a Defendant making admissions to the habitual offender without the State having to prove it up and the issue of bringing it up in a *849 motion in arrest of judgment or making an adequate record.
I believe we probably have an adequate record but just to be safe, it probably would be best to maybe supplement the record a little bit at this time, that the Defendant did freely voluntarily stipulate to the priors of the habitual offender.
THE COURT: All right. I think we did that. But you're in agreement on that; aren't you?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: All right. Thank you. I appreciate that. You understand that's voluntary on your part and you elected to go along with that?
THE DEFENDANT: Correct.
THE COURT: Okay. I have one last thing I need to tell you about. You have the right to file what's called a motion in arrest of judgment. The motion has to be filed at least I think it's five days or three days?
[THE PROSECUTOR]: Five days, Your Honor.
THE COURT: Five days before the date of sentencing. I set your sentencing on January 16th. So if you want the Court to consider that, it has to be filed at least five days before January 16th. Do you understand that?
(At this time there is an off-the-record discussion between [defense counsel] and the Defendant.)
(We are now back on the record.)
[THE PROSECUTOR]: Your Honor, I think it's forty-five days but no less than five days before sentencing.
THE COURT: Okay.
[DEFENSE COUNSEL]: That is correct.
THE COURT: All right. Got that?
THE DEFENDANT: Yes.
THE COURT: Okay. All right. That will conclude the hearing.
Thank you.
The court gave no other information on the motion and had no further conversation about Smith's stipulation to the prior convictions. Smith did not file a motion in arrest of judgment challenging the habitual offender stipulation proceedings.
On January 16, 2018, the district court sentenced Smith as a habitual offender to incarceration not to exceed fifteen years. The court also imposed a fine of $1000, ordering, "The Defendant should be and is hereby fined in the sum of $1,000 plus a 35 percent surcharge. This fine and surcharge are hereby SUSPENDED." Regarding restitution, the order said,
[T]he Defendant shall be required to pay the costs of this action, the $125 law enforcement initiative surcharge, and that he reimburse the state for the reasonable fees of his court-appointed attorney. The Defendant's attorney is given 10 days within which to file a statement of the legal services he has provided for the Defendant. All costs, surcharges, and fees are due immediately and shall be considered delinquent if not paid within 30 days of today's date.
On January 25, Smith appealed the court's final order. The district court filed a restitution plan on March 20, ordering Smith to pay a total of $1434.60.
II. Issues.
On appeal, Smith raises three issues. First, he claims the district court failed to comply with the Harrington requirements in accepting his habitual offender stipulation. Second, he claims the district court erred in ordering him to pay restitution in the form of attorney fees. Third, he claims the district court erred in imposing a fine.
*850 We need not reach Smith's second or third claim because our resolution of the first issue will require resentencing.
III. Standard of Review.
"Claims involving the interpretation of a statute or rule are usually reviewed for errors at law."
Harrington
,
IV. Compliance with the Harrington Requirements.
On appeal, Smith first claims the district court failed to comply with the habitual offender stipulation requirements from
Harrington
and, therefore, his stipulation could not have been voluntarily and intelligently given.
See
A. Error Preservation.
In
Harrington
we held that "offenders in a habitual offender proceeding must preserve error in any deficiencies in the proceeding by filing a motion in arrest of judgment."
Smith's habitual offender proceedings occurred several months after our Harrington decision, but he failed to file a motion in arrest of judgment to challenge those proceedings. Accordingly, this case presents the first opportunity, post- Harrington , for us to consider the consequences of failing to file a motion in arrest of judgment to challenge the habitual offender proceedings.
Smith claims the
Harrington
error preservation requirement does not apply here because the district court failed to adequately advise him, as required by Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 2.8(2)(
d
) for guilty plea proceedings, of his right to file a motion in arrest of judgment and of the consequences of failing to do so.
See, e.g.
,
State v. Meron
,
We have consistently acknowledged that stipulating to prior offenses for purposes of sentencing enhancement is "comparable to a plea of guilty to support sentencing for the crime identified in the plea."
Harrington
,
Moreover, we find the rationale for the error preservation exception in the guilty plea context equally applicable to the prior-offenses stipulation context. In
State v. Worley
, we first recognized the error preservation exception when a defendant failed to file a motion in arrest of judgment to challenge his guilty plea proceedings.
No defendant, however, should suffer the sanction of rule [2.24(3)( a ) ] unless the court has complied with rule [2.8(2)( d ) ] during the plea proceedings by telling the defendant that he must raise challenges to the plea proceeding in a motion in arrest of judgment and that failure to do so precludes challenging the proceeding on appeal.
As in the guilty plea context, the offender challenging the habitual offender stipulation proceeding must do so in a motion in arrest of judgment in order to preserve error on that challenge.
Harrington
,
In assessing whether the district court complied with this
Harrington
duty, we adopt the substantial compliance standard we use "in determining whether a trial court has discharged its duty under rule 2.8(2)(
d
)" in the guilty plea context.
State v. Straw
,
The court's statement that Smith had a right to file a motion in arrest of judgment was insufficient to comply with its duty under
Harrington
. The court's statement did not tie that right to the method of challenging the stipulation proceedings, nor did it ensure Smith understood that the failure to file such a motion would preclude him from challenging the proceedings on appeal.
Cf.
Straw
,
B. The Sentencing Court Failed to Comply with
Harrington
.
The district court failed to comply with
Harrington
's requirements to ensure Smith's prior-offenses stipulation in the habitual offender proceeding was voluntary and intelligent. Although Smith affirmatively responded to the court's inquiry that Smith's decision to stipulate to the habitual offender charge was voluntary, "[a]n affirmative response by the defendant ... does not necessarily serve as an admission to support the imposition of an enhanced penalty as a multiple offender."
Harrington
,
In
Harrington
, we clarified the scope of this stipulation colloquy. Our clarification in
Harrington
specifically addressed prior-offenses stipulations for habitual offender enhancement purposes, but we have subsequently extended the
Harrington
colloquy requirements to other sentence-enhancement, prior-offenses stipulations that occur pursuant to Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 2.19(9).
E.g.
,
Brewster
,
First, the court failed to inform Smith "of the nature of the habitual offender charge," "if admitted, that it will result in sentencing as a habitual offender for having 'twice before been convicted of a[ny] felony,' " and that the "prior felony convictions are only valid if obtained when [Smith] was represented by counsel or knowingly and voluntarily waived the right to counsel."
Second, the court failed to inform Smith "of the maximum possible punishment of the habitual offender enhancement, including mandatory minimum punishment."
Third, the court did not inform Smith of the applicable trial rights enumerated in rule 2.8(2)(
b
)(4) and that no trial on the habitual offender charge would take place
*853
if he admitted to the prior convictions.
1
Finally, the court did not adequately inform Smith that "challenges to an admission based on defects in the habitual offender proceedings must be raised in a motion in arrest of judgment" and that the "failure to do so will preclude the right to assert them on appeal."
As in
Harrington
, the habitual offender colloquy here leaves us "unable to conclude [Smith's] admission was knowingly and voluntarily made."
V. Conclusion.
Smith did not file a motion in arrest of judgment to challenge his habitual offender stipulation proceedings as required by Harrington . However, the district court failed to substantially comply with its duty under Harrington to ensure that Smith understood the necessity of filing such a motion and that the failure to so file would preclude challenging the proceedings on appeal. Therefore, we excuse Smith's failure to preserve error.
On the merits of Smith's challenge to the stipulation proceedings, we find that his prior-offenses stipulation was not knowingly and voluntarily made because the stipulation proceedings fell short of Harrington 's requirements. Thus, we reverse the habitual offender judgment and Smith's sentence and remand the case for further proceedings consistent with Harrington . We affirm the uncontested judgment of guilt on second-degree burglary.
AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.
All justices concur except McDonald, J., who takes no part.
When Smith initially indicated he would stipulate to the prior offenses, the court responded by noting it had told Smith "earlier about the ramifications of doing that." Yet, the record does not contain or otherwise reveal the substance and scope of that earlier advisement.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Bernard Anthony SMITH, Appellant.
- Cited By
- 14 cases
- Status
- Published