Court Opinion

ID: 9781059
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 16:06:10.361265+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T12:09:46.219943
License: Public Domain

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA

                                 No. 22-0718
                            Filed August 30, 2023

STATE OF IOWA,
     Plaintiff-Appellee,

vs.

NICHOLAS JAY ERTL,
     Defendant-Appellant.
________________________________________________________________

      Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Webster County, Joseph L. Tofilon,

District Associate Judge.

      Nicholas Ertl appeals the sentence imposed. APPEAL DISMISSED.

      Agnes Warutere, Ankeny, for appellant.

      Brenna Bird, Attorney General, and Kyle Hanson, Assistant Attorney

General, for appellee.

      Considered by Bower, C.J., and Tabor and Greer, JJ.
                                         2

BOWER, Chief Judge.

      Nicholas Ertl appeals the sentence imposed following a guilty plea to

possession of marijuana, second offense. Because our decision would have no

practical effect upon Ertl’s sentence, we dismiss his appeal as moot.

      In November 2021, the district court revoked Ertl’s probation and imposed

previously suspended sentences for five other offenses. The sentences were

ordered to be served consecutively, for a total of twenty-one years in prison. The

record provides no evidence Ertl contested the probation revocation or the

previously suspended sentences.

      On March 22, 2022, in conformity with a plea agreement, Ertl pleaded guilty

to possession of marijuana, second offense, in violation of Iowa Code section

124.401(5) (2021). Ertl filed a “Statement of Plea Agreement,” which he, his

attorney, and the county attorney signed. It included this provision:

The document offered an option for his fine to be suspended or imposed;

“suspended” was selected.

      At the same time, Ertl filed a document entitled “Plea of Guilty and Waivers

of Trial Rights, Right to be Present at Sentencing, Time for Sentencing and Motion

in Arrest of Judgment,” which was signed only by Ertl and his attorney. The

following statements are included in this document:
                                           3

       By the terms of this document, Ertl waived his right to be present at

sentencing. Part of the waiver states, “I ask the court to proceed to enter judgment

and sentence me without a verbatim record in open court pursuant to the joint

sentencing recommendation set forth in the written guilty plea.” The document

also included the following waivers regarding a motion in arrest of judgment:

                3. I have also been informed that, pursuant to Iowa Rule of
       Criminal Procedure 2.24(3), I have the right to file a motion in arrest
       of judgment which is an application that no judgment be rendered on
       a finding, plea or verdict or guilty; that the effect of an order arresting
       judgment on the ground the guilty plea proceeding was defective is
       to place the defendant in the same situation in which he or she was
       immediately after the indictment was found or the trial information
       filed; that the motion must be made not later than forty-five days after
       the plea of guilty, but in any case not less than five days before the
       date set for pronouncing judgment.
                4. I understand that, by waiving the time for sentencing, I am
       effectively waiving my right to file a motion in arrest of judgment due
       to the fact that there will not be a five day period prior to the
       pronouncement of judgment.
                5. After being advised of the above, it is still my wish to waive
       the time that I may be allowed for sentencing, and therefore I hereby
       waive my right to file a motion in arrest of judgment.

       An addendum notes the limitation to Ertl’s right to appeal:

       I understand that by pleading guilty, I may have no right to appeal
       my guilty plea. I understand that if I wish to appeal and can show
       good cause and/or a defect in the plea proceeding, or that the Court
                                         4

       improperly denied my motion in arrest of judgment, I may file a
       written Application for Permission to Appeal . . . .

       The court sentenced Ertl on the possession-of-marijuana charge to two

years in prison, running concurrently to all other sentences. The court suspended

the fine imposed.

       Ertl appeals, asserting the court should have set the matter for an in-person

sentencing hearing because of the conflicting sentences listed in the two

documents.1 He requests a new sentencing hearing

       that contemplates the agreement outlined in the plea of guilty or at
       the very least determines whether or not Ertl’s plea was knowing and
       voluntary and whether a motion in arrest of judgment would be
       appropriate given that his counsel filed a memorandum of plea
       agreement that was materially inconsistent with the plea of guilty.[2]

       The State asserts Ertl’s appeal is moot for two reasons. First, the State

claims records show Ertl has discharged his sentence because his tentative

discharge date has passed absent him losing days of earned time for

1 Ertl acknowledges on appeal that the Statement of Plea Agreement indicates his

prison sentence was not to be suspended and his “Plea of Guilty” references the
“SOPA” and then indicates sentence “suspended, concurrent to all other
sentences.” Neither document indicates the plea is conditioned upon concurrence
of the court in sentencing.
2
  Ertl’s alternative request for a hearing on whether his plea was knowing and
voluntary is something we cannot provide. Ertl waived his right to a motion in arrest
of judgment and has not established good cause to appeal his guilty plea as a
matter of right. Without good cause, we do not have the authority to vacate a
conviction from a guilty plea—at most, we can vacate his sentence and remand
for resentencing by a different judge in accordance with the plea agreement. See
State v. Tucker, 959 N.W.2d 140, 153 (Iowa 2021) (holding good cause did not
exist to appeal whether plea was knowingly and intelligently made when defendant
waived his right to file a motion in arrest of judgment); see also Iowa Code § 814.6
(only granting a right of appeal in cases with guilty pleas “where the defendant
establishes good cause”); State v. Patten, 981 N.W.2d 126, 133–34 (Iowa 2022)
(remanding for resentencing after prosecutor breached plea agreement at
sentencing).
                                        5

misbehavior.3 Ertl’s tentative discharge date for this conviction was February 24,

2023. However, it is unclear from the record before us whether this sentence was

actually discharged on the calculated date to render this case moot. See, e.g.,

Reilly v. Iowa Dist. Ct., 783 N.W.2d 490, 493 n.1 (Iowa 2010). Therefore, we do

not address this argument.

      The State also claims because Ertl was incarcerated following probation

revocation on a longer sentence, which is no longer subject to attack, probation

would serve no practical purpose in this case. This argument has merit.

      Ertl argues the district court could impose a suspended sentence if we order

resentencing on his plea of guilty to drug possession. Our supreme court has

stated a defendant establishes good cause to appeal from a guilty plea “by

asserting a claim on appeal for which an appellate court potentially could provide

relief.” State v. Newman, 970 N.W.2d 866, 869 (Iowa 2022). Under Iowa Code

section 907.3(3), a court suspending sentence must “place the defendant on

probation upon such terms and conditions as it may require.”        See State v.

Thomas, 659 N.W.2d 217, 221 (Iowa 2003) (“Under the general sentencing

statute, a defendant is required to be placed on probation following a deferred

judgment or suspended sentence and, in a like manner, is required to be assigned

to the judicial district department of correctional services following a deferred

sentence.”). The Iowa Code defines probation as “the procedure under which a

3
  “Normally on appeal we cannot consider matters outside the trial court record.
There is an exception to this general rule for mootness issues. ‘Matters that are
technically outside the record may be submitted in order to establish or counter a
claim of mootness.’” Clarke Cnty. Reservoir Comm’n v. Robins, 862 N.W.2d 166,
170 n.3 (Iowa 2015) (citation omitted).
                                         6

defendant . . . is released by the court subject to supervision by a resident of this

state or by the judicial district department of correctional services.” Iowa Code

§ 907.1(5).

       At the time of Ertl’s sentencing, the district court had just revoked his

probation and ordered him to serve the previously suspended consecutive

sentences totaling an indeterminate period of incarceration of twenty-one years.

Given Ertl’s pre-existing prison sentence, which extends long past the sentence

imposed here, remanding for resentencing for a suspended sentence and

probation would grant Ertl no relief. Thus, he has not established the requirements

to meet the good-cause prong to appeal his sentence. We find the appeal is moot.

       APPEAL DISMISSED.