 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Tovar1/23/2003
The defendant, Felipe Tovar, challenges his conviction, after a bench trial, of third-offense operating while intoxicated (OWI). He claims his first OWI conviction should not have been used to enhance the penalty for his current conviction because his prior conviction resulted from an uncounseled guilty plea, and he had not made a valid waiver of his Sixth Amendment right to counsel at the guilty plea proceeding. The district court and the court of appeals rejected Tovar's argument.
Upon our review of the record and the parties' legal arguments, we conclude the defendant's waiver of his right to counsel was not a knowing and intelligent waiver and, therefore, his prior conviction should not have been used for enhancement purposes in the present criminal proceedings. Accordingly, we vacate the court of appeals decision and reverse the district court's judgment of conviction. The case is remanded for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
I. Background Proceedings.
On December 14, 2000, Tovar was charged with OWI, third offense, a class D felony, and driving while license barred, an aggravated misdemeanor. See *114 Iowa Code §§ 321J.2, 312.561 (1999). The enhancement of the OWI charge to a third offense was based upon Tovar's two prior convictions for OWI.
Tovar pled not guilty to both of the current charges, and filed a motion to adjudicate law points asserting that his first OWI conviction could not be used to enhance the pending OWI charge. He argued his guilty plea in the prior proceeding had been uncounseled and there had not been a knowing and intelligent waiver of his right to an attorney. The district court ruled Tovar's waiver of counsel in the prior case was valid, and consequently denied Tovar's motion.
The present case proceeded to trial before the court and Tovar was found guilty of both charges. After sentencing, Tovar appealed his OWI conviction, alleging the district court erred in allowing his first OWI conviction to be used to enhance his current conviction. The court of appeals affirmed the district court's ruling on the defendant's motion to adjudicate law points, and this court granted further review.
II. Issue on Appeal and Standard of Review.
The parties agree that a prior conviction resulting from an uncounseled guilty plea for which there was an invalid waiver of counsel may not be used to enhance a subsequent offense where the prior conviction resulted in incarceration. See Baldasar v. Illinois, 446 U.S. 222, 226, 100 S.Ct. 1585, 1587, 64 L.Ed.2d 169, 173-74 (1980) (holding a "prior uncounseled misdemeanor conviction could not be used collaterally to impose an increased term of imprisonment"), overruled in part by Nichols v. United States, 511 U.S. 738, 749, 114 S.Ct. 1921, 1928, 128 L.Ed.2d 745, 755 (1994) (holding uncounseled convictions could enhance later offenses provided no incarceration was imposed in the first prosecution); State v. Cooper, 343 N.W.2d 485, 486 (Iowa 1984) (holding, where defendant had not been advised of her right to counsel in two prior prosecutions for simple misdemeanor theft, the State was precluded from using the prior convictions to enhance a third charge of theft to an aggravated misdemeanor). There is also no disagreement that Tovar was not represented by an attorney when he pled guilty to his first OWI charge nor that he expressed the desire to waive his right to counsel at the guilty plea hearing. The dispute in this case centers on whether Tovar's waiver of his right to counsel at the time he pled guilty was valid under the Sixth Amendment.
Although our standard of review for constitutional issues is de novo, see In re Detention of Williams, 628 N.W.2d 447, 451 (Iowa 2001), there is no factual dispute in this case. The only issue for our determina
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Iowa DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|