IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA

No. 14-0928

Filed July 22, 2015

STATE OF IOWA,

Plaintiff-Appellee,

vs.

BRETT OLIVER ROSEDALE,

Defendant-Appellant.

________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Grundy County, Joel A. Dalrymple, 

Judge.

Brett Rosedale appeals following judgment and sentence imposed upon 

his conviction for operating while intoxicated. AFFIRMED.

Barry S. Kaplan of Kaplan & Frese, L.L.P., Marshalltown, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kyle Hanson, Assistant Attorney 

General, and Erika Allen, County Attorney, for appellee.

Considered by Danilson, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Doyle, JJ.
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DANILSON, C.J.

Brett Rosedale appeals following judgment and sentence imposed upon 

his conviction for operating while intoxicated (OWI). He contends there is 

insufficient evidence to support the conviction. He also asserts the district court 

erred in denying his motions in arrest of judgment and for new trial based on 

ineffective assistance of trial counsel. Upon review, we conclude there is 

sufficient evidence to support the conviction and the district court did not err in 

denying Rosedale’s motions and affirm. 

I. Background Facts.

On October 7, 2013, Rosedale was charged by trial information with 

operating while intoxicated, first offense. 

A jury trial was held on December 18 and 19. At trial, Tyrell Bjelland 

testified he had gone to a bar and had been drinking for several hours before he 

called Rosedale for a ride and “woke him up.” Rosedale came to get him, 

coming into the bar for a few minutes. Bjelland testified that Rosedale did not 

drink anything while there and did not appear intoxicated. Bjelland testified he 

may have spilled a drink on Rosedale because “we roughhouse a lot.” 

Deputy Sheriff Nathan Stahl testified that at about 12:30 a.m. on 

August 27, 2013, he followed a motorist who was traveling seventy-three miles 

per hour in a fifty-five mile-per-hour zone. Deputy Stahl testified that after turning 

on the flashing lights of his marked squad car, the vehicle did not pull over for a 

mile or a mile and a quarter. Deputy Stahl stated that when he made contact 

with the driver of the vehicle he noticed a “very strong smell” of alcoholic coming 

from the vehicle. The squad car dash camera video shows Deputy Stahl 
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stepping back and exclaiming about the smell. The driver, Rosedale, stated his

passenger (Bjelland) was intoxicated. Deputy Stahl had Rosedale step out of the 

vehicle. He asked Rosedale several times if Rosedale had been drinking—

without any answer from Rosedale. Eventually Rosedale said he had not been 

drinking, that he had driven to Eldora to pick up his intoxicated friend, and he was 

giving him a ride. Deputy Stahl accompanied Rosedale back to his squad car, 

where he continued to detect a “moderate” odor of alcoholic beverages.

Deputy Stahl conducted field sobriety tests with Rosedale, who scored six 

of six possible clues on the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, which Deputy Stahl 

testified indicated impairment. Rosedale scored three clues on the walk-and-turn 

test, which indicated impairment. And he scored two clues on the one-leg-stand 

test, which indicated impairment. Finally, Deputy Stahl asked Rosedale to 

perform a preliminary breath test, but Rosedale refused. Based on his 

observations and experience, Deputy Stahl concluded Rosedale was intoxicated.

Deputy Stahl arrested Rosedale and transported him to the county law 

enforcement center. The deputy read the implied consent advisory, gave 

Rosedale the opportunity to contact an attorney or family member, and requested 

a breath specimen for the Datamaster. Rosedale refused to submit to chemical 

testing.

The jury was shown the video from Deputy Stahl’s squad car, as well as 

the video from the booking process. Deputy Stahl then testified. The prosecutor 

asked, “[I]s there a typical drunk driver?” Deputy Stahl began to talk about 

another traffic stop he had made and during which he conducted field sobriety 
4

tests. Defense counsel interrupted with relevancy objections to further questions, 

which were sustained. 

The jury convicted Rosedale of OWI. Rosedale, represented by new 

counsel, filed motions in arrest of judgment, for judgment of acquittal, and for 

new trial, asserting there was insufficient evidence to sustain the conviction and 

trial counsel was ineffective due to defense counsel’s physical health problems, 

which “might be neurological.” 

A hearing was held with respect to the ineffectiveness claim. Former 

defense counsel testified he was ill on the first day of trial with a diabetic foot 

infection. In addition to a low-grade fever from the infection, the attorney stated 

he had “nerve problems” he described as spinal stenosis and nerve damage that 

manifested as uncontrollable shaking. After trial, the attorney sought treatment 

because he thought “there’s something going on,” but he had not yet received 

any final diagnosis. He explained, “I just don’t think I was with it.” The court 

rejected the claim, stating counsel did “a fine job” and the defendant was not 

denied a fair trial. 

The court overruled Rosedale’s posttrial motions, and Rosedale appeals.

II. Scope and Standards of Review. 

We review sufficiency-of-the-evidence claims for correction of errors at 

law. State v. Showens, 845 N.W.2d 436, 439 (Iowa 2014).

In reviewing challenges to the sufficiency of evidence supporting a 

guilty verdict, courts consider all of the record evidence viewed in 

the light most favorable to the State, including all reasonable 

inferences that may be fairly drawn from the evidence. We will 

uphold a verdict if substantial record evidence supports it.
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State v. Romer, 832 N.W.2d 169, 174 (Iowa 2013) (citation and internal quotation 

marks omitted).

We review claims of ineffective assistance de novo because they involve 

the constitutional right to counsel. Showens, 845 N.W.2d at 440. 

III. Discussion.

A. Sufficiency of the evidence. Viewing the evidence in the light most 

favorable to upholding the verdict, see Romer, 832 N.W.2d at 174, we conclude 

there is substantial evidence supporting the conviction. Rosedale was operating 

a motor vehicle at a high rate of speed when Deputy Stahl stopped him. The 

deputy opined that Rosedale smelled of alcoholic beverages and had Rosedale 

perform various field sobriety tests. Deputy Stahl testified that Rosedale failed 

field sobriety tests and exhibited evasive behavior. The jury had the opportunity 

to view the squad car dash camera video, as we have on appeal. We conclude 

the evidence was sufficient to convince a reasonable jury of Rosedale’s guilt and 

the district court did not err in denying the motion for judgment of acquittal.

B. Ineffectiveness claim. To prevail on his claim of ineffective assistance 

of counsel, Rosedale must prove (1) counsel failed to perform an essential duty 

and (2) prejudice resulted. See State v. Ross, 845 N.W.2d 692, 697–98 (Iowa 

2014) (citing Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 694 (1984)). Former 

counsel opined he was “not functioning the way I have before . . . mentally and 

physically.” He stated, “I don’t have any specifics necessarily and I haven’t been 

fully worked up [with medical testing] at this point.” The trial court found former 

defense counsel performed adequately. Under the record before us, we cannot 

say that Rosedale has carried his burden to show, by a preponderance of the 
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evidence, that counsel’s performance included “such serious errors” that he was 

“not functioning as the advocate the Sixth Amendment guarantees.”1 See Ross,

845 N.W.2d at 698. 

AFFIRMED.

 

1 Our ruling does not preclude the defendant from raising the issue of counsel’s 

effectiveness in possible postconviction proceedings should counsel’s “full work up” 

reveal specific impairment.