Opinion ID: 1575457
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Due Process: Punishment Prior to Adjudication of Guilt.

Text: Nail and Kucera launch a second due process attack, asserting that a civil penalty under section 907.14(1) cannot be imposed prior to an adjudication of guilt. In briefing, the parties engage in a battle at close quarters regarding whether the civil penalty in section 907.14(1) is criminal or civil in nature. Specifically, the State contends that the purpose of the  civil penalty is to recover costs of investigating, prosecuting, and administering deferred judgments. Nail and Kucera contend that the civil penalty is primarily punitive in nature. See Clinton Cmty. Sch. Dist. v. Anderson, 322 N.W.2d 73, 75-76 (Iowa 1982) (discussing whether a civil penalty is civil or criminal in nature). We believe that the parties have focused on the wrong issue. We recognize that generally speaking, due process requires that criminal penalties be imposed only after an adjudication of guilt. Bell v. Wolfish, 441 U.S. 520, 535 n. 16, 99 S.Ct. 1861, 1872 n. 16, 60 L.Ed.2d 447, 466 n. 16 (1979); Hernandez-Lopez, 639 N.W.2d at 237 n. 5. The foundation of this requirement is the presumption of innocence. It would be fundamentally unfair to impose criminal penalties in a contested matter until the matter of guilt or innocence is determined. These are bedrock principles of constitutional law. We further recognize that a plea bargain and the grant of a deferred judgment are not ordinarily considered adjudications of guilt the prosecution not being complete until a final judgment has been entered. State v. Anderson, 246 N.W.2d 277, 279 (Iowa 1976); State v. Farmer, 234 N.W.2d 89, 92 (Iowa 1975). In this case, however, while there may be no adjudication of guilt, there has been an admission of guilt. Nail and Kucera have filed written guilty pleas and personally affirmed their guilt in open court. There is no question of guilt or innocence to be adjudicated. Any due process claim rooted in the presumption of innocence evaporates in light of their guilty pleas. Further, the State is not seeking to force a deferred judgment on these defendants. In this case, deferred judgment offers the defendants the significant benefit of avoiding inevitable criminal conviction. The defendants, moreover, specifically requested that the court grant them this benefit. It is well-settled that a defendant who pleads guilty surrenders basic constitutional rights. Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 243 n. 5, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 1712 n. 5, 23 L.Ed.2d 274, 279-80 n. 5 (1969). Where the defendants have admitted guilt and themselves requested a deferred judgment in order to avoid an adjudication of guilt, it cannot be maintained that an adjudication of the underlying criminal offense is a prerequisite to the imposition of a penalty, regardless of whether the penalty is considered civil or criminal. A defendant who voluntarily seeks a deferred judgment to avoid a final criminal adjudication cannot object to the lack of one when statutory sanctions under a deferred judgment are imposed. As a result, we hold that the imposition of a civil penalty for deferred judgments does not affront fundamental fairness notions inherent in the due process guarantees of the Iowa and United States Constitutions. [3]