STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff - Appellee, vs. MATTHEW ALLEN GARLICK , Defend ant - Appellant.
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IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 8-284 / 07-1507
Filed April 30, 2008
STATE OF IOWA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
vs.
MATTHEW ALLEN GARLICK,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Thomas A. Renda,
Judge.
Defendant appeals from a district court order revoking his deferred
judgment. AFFIRMED.
Meegan M. Langmaid-Keller, Altoona, and J. Keith Rigg, Des Moines, for
appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Karen Doland, Assistant Attorney
General, John P. Sarcone, County Attorney, and Jaki Livingston, Assistant
County Attorney, for appellee.
Considered by Vogel, P.J., and Zimmer and Baker, JJ.
2
BAKER, J.
Matthew Garlick appeals from a district court order revoking his deferred
judgment and probation. We reject Garlick’s arguments that the district court
erred in finding the filing of new charges alone were sufficient to cause
revocation and that the court erred in pronouncing sentencing without affording
Garlick his right to allocution. We preserve Garlick’s claim that his trial counsel
rendered ineffective assistance for a possible postconviction proceeding.
I. Background and Facts
On November 8, 2006, Matthew Garlick was charged with third-degree
burglary in violation of Iowa Code section 713.6A(1) (2005), one count of theft in
the second degree and one count of theft in the third degree, in violation of
sections 714.1 and 714.2(3), carrying a concealed weapon in violation of section
724.4(2), and possession of a controlled substance in violation of section
124.401(5). On December 14, 2006, he pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary,
third-degree theft, and possession of marijuana.
Pursuant to the plea
agreement, the other charges were dismissed.
On January 29, 2007, Garlick was granted a deferred judgment and was
placed on probation for two years.
Conditions of the probation included an
agreement to obey all laws and contact his probation officer, James Miedema,
within twenty-four hours of any arrest or citation, and to be restricted to and
obtain permission prior to leaving his county of residence, Jasper County. On
May 5, 2007, Garlick received a speeding ticket in Polk County.
After that
incident, Miedema verbally instructed Garlick that he was not to be in Polk
County during the late night/early evening hours without Miedema’s permission.
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On June 6, 2007, at 1:25 a.m., Garlick was involved in a motorcycle
accident in West Des Moines, Iowa. His passenger, a seventeen-year-old girl,
was killed. Garlick was charged with vehicular homicide.
Miedema filed a June 18, 2007 report of probation violations, alleging
Garlick had violated rules of his probation due to the May 5, 2007 citation and the
June 6, 2007 motorcycle accident, where Garlick was in Polk County during late
night/early evening hours without prior permission. On August 1, 2007, a second
report was filed, alleging that at the time of the accident Garlick had been
operating a motorcycle in a reckless manner with willful disregard for the safety
of others, and that Garlick had been charged with vehicular homicide.
On August 2, 2007, a probation revocation hearing was held.
At the
hearing, Miedema recommended Garlick’s deferred judgment be revoked and he
be given the maximum penalty for the offenses.
The district court revoked
Garlick’s deferred judgment and probation and sentenced him to prison for a
term of five years for the burglary conviction, two years for the theft conviction,
and six months for the possession of a controlled substance conviction. The
sentences were ordered to run concurrently. Garlick appeals.
II. Merits
Garlick contends (1) the district court erred in finding the filing of new
charges alone were sufficient to cause revocation, (2) the court erred in
pronouncing sentencing without affording Garlick his right to allocution, and (3)
his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance because he failed to prepare for
the revocation hearing and failed to request a continuance.
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A. Grounds for Revocation
We review a district court’s revocation decision for the correction of errors
at law.
Iowa R. App. P. 6.4.
Probation cannot be revoked arbitrarily or
capriciously. State v. Hughes, 200 N.W.2d 559, 562 (Iowa 1972). Due process
requires “[t]he findings of a court revoking probation . . . show the factual basis
for the revocation.” Id.; accord. State v. Lillibridge, 519 N.W.2d 82, 83 (Iowa
1994).
Garlick contends that the district court “merely found that riding a
motorcycle at a high rate of speed is very dangerous” but never found that he
was reckless or that recklessness caused the passenger’s death. Therefore, he
argues, the district court erroneously concluded that the vehicular homicide
charge alone was sufficient grounds for revocation.
A court may consider pending charges in revocation hearings, and a
conviction is not required before revocation may occur.
State v. Dolan, 496
N.W.2d 278, 279-80 (Iowa Ct. App. 1992). Proof of the alleged violation must,
however, be established by a preponderance of the evidence. Id. at 280. “[A]
pending charge, absent some showing the defendant actually committed the
charged act, is not a sufficient basis” for revocation. Id.
We agree with Garlick’s contention that the vehicular homicide charge
alone is an insufficient basis for revoking his probation. The State must show
sufficient evidence in the record from which the district court could find, by a
preponderance of evidence, that Garlick committed the new crime.
See id.
Therefore, we do not approve the district court’s statement that “the fact that he
has been charged with that is sufficient to revoke his probation.”
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The district court, however, also stated that it made its decision to revoke
Garlick’s deferred judgment and probation due to the seriousness and nature of
Garlick’s actions “after hearing all the testimony and the statements of the parties
involved.”
The testimony and statements included the testimony of Officer
William Jess, a police officer and accident reconstructionist with the City of West
Des Moines. Jess estimated Garlick had been traveling between forty-five and
seventy miles per hour in a twenty-five mile per hour zone. Jess testified that
witnesses at the scene identified Garlick as the motorcycle driver and told him
that Garlick had sped past them and performed a wheelie just prior to the
accident. Jess further testified that he had spoken with a woman who had ridden
on the motorcycle with Garlick earlier on the evening of the accident, and that
Garlick had been speeding and performed a number of wheelies while she was a
passenger. We conclude the record contains sufficient evidence from which the
district court could find by a preponderance of the evidence that Garlick
committed the crime. See Dolan, 496 N.W.2d at 280. The court did not err in
considering the violation in revoking Garlick’s probation and deferred judgment.
B. Right to Allocution
Garlick asserts the district court never gave him an opportunity to speak
regarding his sentence.
We review sentencing procedures for an abuse of
discretion. State v. Duckworth, 597 N.W.2d 799, 800 (Iowa 1999) (citing State v.
Craig, 562 N.W.2d 633, 634 (Iowa 1997)). “Such abuse will be found only if the
district court’s discretion was exercised on grounds or for reasons clearly
untenable or to an extent clearly unreasonable.” Id.
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Because probation revocation is a civil proceeding, the rules of criminal
procedure do not apply. Lillibridge, 519 N.W.2d at 83. The entry of sentence,
however, is not part of the civil revocation proceeding but is the final judgment in
a criminal case.
Id.
When a sentence is entered after the revocation of
probation, therefore, the district court must comply with the rules of criminal
procedure. Id.; see also Duckworth, 597 N.W.2d at 800-01 (noting a defendant’s
right to make a statement in mitigation of punishment applies when a sentence is
entered after a probation revocation).
A sentencing court is required under Iowa Rule of Criminal
Procedure 2.23(3)(a) to ask the defendant whether he or she “has
any legal cause to show why judgment should not be pronounced
against” him or her. The rule continues on in paragraph (d) to
require that prior to the court’s rendition of judgment “counsel for
the defendant, and the defendant personally, shall be allowed to
address the court where either wishes to make a statement in
mitigation of punishment.”
Together these requirements are
referred to as a defendant’s right to allocution.
State v. Nosa, 738 N.W.2d 658, 660 (Iowa Ct. App. 2007) (citing Craig, 562
N.W.2d at 635-37).
The opportunity to address the court does not have to be couched in the
precise words of the statute. State v. Patterson, 161 N.W.2d 736, 738 (Iowa
1968). The point of requiring a defendant be given a right to allocution is to allow
the defendant an opportunity to identify any reasons for withholding judgment
and to volunteer any information helpful to the defendant’s cause. Craig, 562
N.W.2d at 635; Patterson, 161 N.W.2d 738. Therefore, as long as the district
court provides the defendant with an opportunity to speak regarding his
punishment, the court is in compliance with the rule. See generally State v.
Christensen, 201 N.W.2d 457, 460 (Iowa 1972) (holding defendant was not
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denied right of allocution where asked, “Is there anything you would like to say to
the court before I pronounce sentence?”); State v. Ludley, 465 N.W.2d 912,
915 (Iowa Ct. App. 1990) (holding defendant was not denied right to allocution
where court asked, “Any comments you want to make at all regarding this
offense?”).
But see Duckworth, 597 N.W.2d at 801 (holding defendant was
denied right to allocution where the “record clearly shows the court made no
effort to provide [defendant] with an opportunity to volunteer any information in
mitigation of his sentence”); Craig, 562 N.W.2d at 636 (asking defendant where
he was employed and how much he earned did not suggest that he could voice
arguments in mitigation of his sentence and therefore did not afford him an
opportunity to speak in mitigation of punishment); State v. Millsap, 547 N.W.2d 8,
10 (Iowa Ct. App. 1996) (asking defendant, “[A]re you ready to be sentenced at
this time?” did not establish defendant was provided with requisite opportunity to
speak to court concerning sentence). Trial judges should leave no room for
doubt that a defendant has been given the opportunity to speak regarding
punishment. Craig, 562 N.W.2d at 637.
Garlick contends he was never given an opportunity to speak regarding his
ultimate sentence because the district court “received closing statements from
counsel, found the violation of probation and immediately pronounced sentence.”
Prior to pronouncing sentence and after having heard the recommendation by
the State, the court asked, “Does the defendant have any statement to make at
this point in time?”
Garlick’s counsel then spoke on Garlick’s behalf, citing
numerous reasons that the appropriate sentence would be to allow Garlick to
continue on probation. The court then proceeded to sentencing.
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The record indicates the district court asked Garlick if he wished to say
anything before sentence was pronounced. That question afforded Garlick the
opportunity to point out reasons for withholding judgment and to volunteer any
information helpful to his cause. Accordingly, Garlick was not denied his right to
allocution.
C. Ineffective Assistance
Garlick contends his trial counsel was ineffective in failing to prepare for the
revocation hearing and in failing to request a continuance. Because a criminal
defendant’s right to reasonably effective assistance of counsel is derived from
the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution, we review ineffective
assistance claims de novo. State v. Wills, 696 N.W.2d 20, 22 (Iowa 2005).
To prevail on an ineffective assistance claim the defendant must show both
failure to perform an essential duty and resulting prejudice.
Strickland v.
Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687, 104 S. Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L. Ed. 2d 674, 693
(1984). “[I]f counsel entirely fails to subject the prosecution’s case to meaningful
adversarial testing, then there has been a denial of Sixth Amendment rights that
makes the adversary process itself presumptively unreliable.” United States v.
Cronic, 466 U.S. 648, 659, 104 S. Ct. 2039, 2047, 80 L. Ed. 657, 668 (1984).
Further, where “the surrounding circumstances ma[k]e it so unlikely that any
lawyer could provide effective assistance,” ineffectiveness is properly presumed.
Id. at 661, 104 S. Ct. at 2048, 80 L. Ed. at 669. Under these circumstances,
ineffective assistance is established without the showing of prejudice required by
Strickland.
9
A second report of probation violations was filed on August 1, 2007, alleging
that at the time of the accident Garlick had been operating a motorcycle in a
reckless manner with willful disregard for the safety of others, and that Garlick
had been charged with vehicular homicide.
Garlick’s probation revocation
hearing was held on August 2, 2007. Garlick asserts that the second report
alleged a “complex new criminal charge.” He argues that his trial counsel failed
to perform the essential duty of subjecting the State’s evidence to any meaningful
adversarial testing and that, given the complexity of the new allegations, his trial
counsel should have requested a continuance rather than proceed to the
revocation hearing with only one day’s notice of the new allegations.
When an ineffective assistance claim is raised on direct appeal, “the court
may decide the record is adequate to decide the claim or may choose to
preserve the claim for determination” under postconviction relief procedures.
Iowa Code § 814.7(3). Because the trial record is often inadequate to allow us to
resolve the claim, we frequently preserve ineffective assistance claims for
possible postconviction proceedings to enable a complete record to be
developed and to give trial counsel an opportunity to explain his actions. State v.
Truesdell, 679 N.W.2d 611, 616 (Iowa 2004); State v. Martin, 587 N.W.2d 606,
611 (Iowa Ct. App. 1998). Such is the case here. Further, to prevail on an
ineffective assistance claim, the appellant must show prejudice.
“When
complaining about the adequacy of an attorney’s representation, it is not enough
to simply claim that counsel should have done a better job.” Dunbar v. State,
515 N.W.2d 12, 15 (Iowa 1994) (citing State v. White, 337 N.W.2d 517, 519
(Iowa 1983)). The appellant “must state the specific ways in which counsel’s
10
performance was inadequate and identify how competent representation
probably would have changed the outcome.” Id. (citations omitted). On this
record we have nothing to review that would indicate that the result would have
been different.
We therefore preserve for a possible postconviction proceeding Garlick’s
claim that his trial counsel rendered ineffective assistance in failing to prepare for
the revocation hearing and in failing to request a continuance.
III. Conclusion
Because the record contains sufficient evidence from which the district court
could find by a preponderance of the evidence that Garlick committed the crime,
the district court did not err in revoking Garlick’s probation after he was charged
with vehicular homicide. Because the court asked Garlick if he wished to say
anything before sentence was pronounced, he was not denied his right to
allocution.
We preserve Garlick’s ineffective assistance claim for a possible
postconviction proceeding.
AFFIRMED.
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