Opinion
No. 2-745 / 01-1409
Filed November 25, 2002
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, JOHN BAUERCAMPER, Judge.
Defendant appeals the dismissal of his application for postconviction relief. REVERSED AND REMANDED.
Drew Kouris, Council Bluffs, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Linda Hines, Assistant Attorney General, and Thomas Ferguson, County Attorney, for appellee.
Considered by HECHT, P.J., and VAITHESWARAN and EISENHAUER, JJ.
Dana Moeller appeals the district court's ruling granting the State's motion to dismiss his application for postconviction relief. The district court granted summary judgment on the grounds that (1) Moeller pled guilty and failed to challenge the plea by filing a motion in arrest of judgment, (2) he failed to raise ineffective assistance of counsel on direct appeal, and (3) he failed to allege good cause for failure to raise the issues earlier. Our review is for errors of law. Hinkle v. State, 290 N.W.2d 28, 30 (Iowa 1980).
Although Moeller did file a direct appeal, it was dismissed pursuant to Iowa Rule of Appellate Procedure 6.104, an action he resisted. Therefore, he was not required to supply a reason for failing to assert his ineffective assistance of counsel claim on direct appeal. See Ailes v. State, 574 N.W.2d 353, 354 (Iowa Ct.App. 1997). Moeller's postconviction relief counsel failed to alert the district court to this occurrence.
The underlying basis for Moeller's claims of ineffective assistance of counsel is that his guilty plea was coerced and not voluntary. Under these circumstances, it is not necessary for a defendant to challenge his guilty plea by way of a motion in arrest of judgment. See State v. LaRue, 619 N.W.2d 395, 397 (Iowa 2000) (recognizing that a claim of ineffective assistance which calls into question the voluntariness of a guilty plea may be brought following a guilty plea). Accordingly, we reverse the district court's order granting summary judgment on Moeller's postconviction relief claims and remand for hearing.