Opinion ID: 1251758
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Heading: Amendment of Trial Information.

Text: In resisting the State's motion to amend the trial information, Maghee argued surprise. The surprise, he contended, was that he was prepared to defend a class C felony (500 grams or less of cocaine) and not a class B felony (more than 500 grams of cocaine). In support of his contention, Maghee argued that depositions of State's witnesses established that only 33 grams of cocaine were involved, not 3000 grams. Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 4(8) governs amendments to trial informations. It provides in part: The court may, on motion of the state, either before or during the trial, order the indictment amended so as to correct errors or omissions in matters of form or substance. Amendment is not allowed if substantial rights of the defendant are prejudiced by the amendment, or if a wholly new or different offense is charged. Iowa R.Crim. P. 4(8)(a). The first part of the rule is discretionary: the district court may order amendment so as to correct errors or omissions that either are or are not substantive. Iowa Code § 4.1(30) (provides that word may in statute confers a power). Our review up to this point of the rule is therefore for abuse of discretion. We find an abuse of discretion only when the party claiming such shows that the court exercised the discretion on grounds or for reasons clearly untenable or to an extent clearly unreasonable. State v. Vanover, 559 N.W.2d 618, 627 (Iowa 1997). The second part of the rule limits the district court's discretion: The district court must not allow the amendment if the amendment prejudices substantial rights of the defendant or the amendment charges a wholly new or different offense. Thus, our review is for correction of errors at law for this part of the rule. State v. Sharpe, 304 N.W.2d 220, 223 (Iowa 1981) (holding it was error to allow State to amend indictment charging second-degree murder by substituting first-degree murder because the amendment charged a wholly new and different offense); see Iowa R.App. P. 4. We have interpreted rule 4(8)(a) to require a two-part test: A trial information, like an indictment, may be amended to correct errors or omissions of form or substance, so long as a two-pronged test is satisfied: (1) substantial rights of the defendant are not prejudiced thereby, and (2) a wholly new or different offense is not charged. State v. Berney, 378 N.W.2d 915, 919 (Iowa 1985). A. Wholly new or different offense. Although Maghee did not expressly mention wholly new or different offense in arguing to the district court, his arguments could be construed to raise the issue. However, as the State points out, the original charges and the amended charges involve violations of the same code section: Iowa Code section 124.401(1). This provision contains the base prohibition that no one shall manufacture, deliver, or possess with the intent to manufacture or deliver certain controlled substances or conspire to do so. The elements under the original or amended charges are therefore the same. The penalties are different depending on the amount of drugs involved. Compare Iowa Code § 124.401(1)( c )(2) (making it a class C felony and providing for ten year sentence if the drugs involved are five hundred grams or less), with id. § 124.401(1)( b )(2) (making it a class B felony and providing for twenty-five year sentence if the drugs involved are more than five hundred grams but not more than one kilogram). We agree with the State that under these circumstances the amendment did not charge a wholly new or different offense. Rather, the amendment charged the same offense but with a larger amount of drugs involved resulting in a potentially more severe sentence. Cf. Berney, 378 N.W.2d at 919 (holding that amendment alleging defendant to be habitual offender under Iowa Code section 902.8 (1983) did not define a new crime but merely constituted a predicate for enhanced punishment); Sharpe, 304 N.W.2d at 222-23 (holding that first degree-murder is a wholly new and different offense than second-degree murder based in part on different elements). B. Prejudice. The question remains whether the amendment prejudiced substantial rights of Maghee. An amendment prejudices the substantial rights of the defendant if it creates such surprise that the defendant would have to change trial strategy to meet the charge in the amended information. State v. Fuhrmann, 257 N.W.2d 619, 624 (Iowa 1977). Contrary to Maghee's claim, we find no surprise and therefore no prejudice here. As the district court noted, the minutes of testimony attached to the original trial information put Maghee on notice that the State considered his case to be a major drug offense. The minutes mention the agreement to sell three kilos of cocaine at a price of $20,000 per kilo. The minutes also state that after the arrests the officers found $61,100 on the top of the dresser as well as the cocaine and describe the amount of money taken from Maghee and Gress. The minutes further provide that a state criminalist would testify regarding the examination and analysis of approximately three kilograms of substance containing cocaine, as well as the preparation of the three kilograms of cocaine mixture associated with this investigation. Moreover, Maghee's counsel appeared ready to defend against the actual weight of the cocaine mixture and its applicability to the class B felony amended charge. We say this because he did not ask for the traditionally appropriate remedy for a defendant's claim of surprise: a continuance. State v. Schertz, 330 N.W.2d 1, 2 (Iowa 1983) (The appropriate remedy for a defendant's claim of surprise is, of course, to order a continuance . . . .). Rule 4(8)(d) contemplates such relief. Iowa R. Crim P. 4(8)(d) (providing that where amendment is allowed no continuance shall be granted unless it appears that defendant should have additional time to prepare because of such amendment). Finally, the amendment did not change Maghee's defense strategy. His defense turned on his assertion that he never possessed the cocaine, whatever the amount. Additionally, in return for leniency on a charge pending against him, Maghee claimed that he was operating as a government agent to snare Gress. We conclude the district court did not abuse its discretion in allowing the amendment whether it was to correct a clerical error as the State claimed or whether it was to correct a substantive error or omission. Further, the court committed no legal error because the amendment neither (1) charged a wholly new and different offense nor (2) prejudiced Maghee's substantial rights.