Opinion ID: 1738471
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Sufficiency of guilty plea proceedings.

Text: Defendant contends that trial court at the time the guilty plea was taken failed to advise him of the consequences of his guilty plea as required by State v. Sisco, 169 N.W.2d 542 (Iowa 1969) and following cases, because he was not informed that a deferred or suspended sentence would not be permitted unless the crime was against property, and that the reduction of the charge meant no leniency or clemency. What defendant appears to say in this regard is that trial court, by reason of its hesitancy to grant leniency under these circumstances, in effect had a self-imposed minimum sentence different from that provided by statute, and it should have so advised the defendant. Examination of the plea proceedings, however, shows that the trial court informed the defendant of the range of punishment provided for the offense, from a deferred sentence to a two-year sentence and $5000 fine. This complies with the requirements of Iowa R.Crim.P. 8(2)(b)(2) which requires that he be informed of [t]he manditory minimum punishment, if any, and the maximum possible punishment provided by the statute defining the offense to which the plea is offered. To have been more specific in this case would, in effect, be a commitment by the court as to the ultimate disposition. Such determinations are to be made after a presentence investigation and review of any other relevant information pertaining to disposition, as provided in section 901.2, Code Supp.1977. To advise the defendant at the time of arraignment of the disposition to be made at time of sentencing is not required. This is not a case in which the court has refused to abide by a plea agreement struck by counsel for the state and the defendant, in which case the defendant could withdraw his guilty plea under Iowa R.Crim.P. 9(4). Here there was no plea agreement as to disposition, other than that the county attorney agreed to make no recommendations to the court concerning sentencing. We find no merit in this contention. Disposition of defendant's third issue makes it unnecessary to resolve the State's response in regard to it, that the defendant has failed to preserve his right of appeal on the issue by filing a motion in arrest of judgment under State v. Reaves, 254 N.W.2d 488 (Iowa 1977). We have recently held, however, that the motion in arrest of judgment is not required to preserve error claimed in guilty plea proceedings under the new Iowa Criminal Code as it existed at the time of the arraignment in this case. State v. Gardner, 274 N.W.2d 328, 329 (Iowa 1979). Because we find no error in the guilty plea proceedings, there is no basis for granting the withdrawal of the plea. This matter may be satisfactorily disposed of by the district court by resentencing in accordance with our holding in Thompson. As we said in that case, we do not seek to recommend to the sentencing court what the disposition should be. Nor do we say that the sentence in this case was excessive. We only say that whatever the disposition is, if it is based upon the reduction of an original higher charge, the facts must clearly establish that some higher offense was actually committed, not merely that it was charged. JUDGMENT VACATED AND REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING.