Opinion
No. 5-017 / 04-0431
Filed February 24, 2005
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Mary Howes, District Associate Judge.
Defendant appeals, following jury trial, from her conviction and sentence for assault on a police officer. AFFIRMED.
Linda Del Gallo, State Appellate Defender, and Nan Jennisch, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kevin Cmelik, Assistant Attorney General, William E. Davis, County Attorney, and Alan Havercamp, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.
Considered by Sackett, C.J., and Zimmer and Hecht, JJ.
Alfreda Brown appeals, following a jury trial, from her conviction and sentence for assaulting a police officer in violation of Iowa Code sections 708.1 and 708.3A(4) (2003). Because Brown has not established that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to a jury instruction outlining the elements of assault on a police officer, her conviction and sentence is affirmed.
Brown was also convicted of and sentenced for simple assault in violation of Iowa Code section 708.1(2) and resisting arrest in violation of section 804.12, but she does not appeal from these convictions and sentences.
From the evidence introduced at trial the jury could have found the following facts. On November 20, 2003, police were dispatched to Brown's residence in response to a noise complaint made by Brown's neighbor, Crystal Stewart. Brown was hostile towards the officers, but eventually complied with their request to turn down her music. After officers left, Brown confronted and physically threatened Stewart. Stewart again called police.
Officers were dispatched to Stewart's residence. After speaking with Stewart they attempted to speak with Brown at her residence, but Brown was not home. As the officers returned to their squad cars, Brown arrived in a vehicle along with two other individuals. Brown approached the officers, and a physical confrontation ensued. Although defense witnesses claimed police officer Ross Curtis incited the confrontation, the State's witnesses testified that it was Brown who provoked the physical altercation. Those witnesses stated that Brown rushed toward Officer Curtis in an aggressive manner, hit Officer Curtis on the arm, and was physically combative while police tried to subdue her.
After the close of evidence at Brown's trial, the district court instructed the jury on the elements of assault on a police officer as follows:
1. On or about the 30th day of November, 2003, the defendant did an act which was intended to cause pain or injury, result in physical contact which was insulting or offensive, or place Officer Ross Curtis in fear of an immediate physical contact with would have been painful, injurious, insulting or offensive to Officer Ross Curtis.
2. The defendant had the apparent ability to do the act.
3. The defendant knew that Ross Curtis was a police officer.
This instruction mirrors the elements contained within the relevant statutes. See Iowa Code §§ 708.1(1)-(2), 708.3A(4).
On appeal, Brown asserts trial counsel should have nevertheless objected to the instruction, because it did not inform the jury the State was required to prove Brown acted with specific intent. We conduct a de novo review of this ineffective assistance of counsel claim. State v. Watson, 620 N.W.2d 233, 235 (Iowa 2000). To establish ineffective assistance of trial counsel, Brown must prove her attorney's performance fell below "an objective standard of reasonableness" and "the deficient performance prejudiced the defense." Strickland v. Washington, 466 U.S. 668, 687-88, 104 S. Ct. 2052, 2064, 80 L. Ed. 2d 674, 693 (1984). Prejudice is shown by a reasonable probability that, but for counsel's errors, the result of the proceeding would have been different. State v. Atwood, 602 N.W.2d 775, 784 (Iowa 1999).
Typically, ineffective assistance of counsel claims are preserved for possible postconviction review, to allow a full development of the record regarding counsel's actions. State v. DeCamp, 622 N.W.2d 290, 296 (Iowa 2001). However, where the record is sufficient to reach the merits of the defendant's contentions, we will address ineffective assistance claims on direct appeal. State v. Miller, 622 N.W.2d 782, 785 (Iowa Ct.App. 2000). We find the record in this case is sufficient to determine the defendant's claim.
The parties' arguments focus upon whether assault, as defined in section 708.1(1) and (2) is a general or specific intent crime. For a number of years, our appellate courts concluded that assault was a general intent crime. See, e.g., State v. Ogan, 497 N.W.2d 902, 903 (Iowa 1993) (approving State v. Brown, 376 N.W.2d 910, 913-14 (Iowa Ct.App. 1985)). However, in State v. Heard, 636 N.W.2d 227, 231 (Iowa 2001), our supreme court overruled those previous cases, declaring that assault was in fact a specific intent crime. Apparently in response to this holding, our legislature amended section 708.1 to provide that "an assault as defined in this section is a general intent crime."
The ruling in Heard was limited to assault as defined in section 708.1(2). Heard, 636 N.W.2d at 231. However, we note the structure of section 708.1(2) is identical to that of section 708.1(1). Both alternatives require "an act which is intended to" cause or result in an additional consequence.
The following year, in State v. Bedard, 668 N.W.2d 598 (Iowa 2003), our supreme court again addressed the intent requirement of an assault charge. The court acknowledged the legislative amendment, but noted:
[T]his amendment did not alter the substantive content of the statute as it pertains to the elements of the crime. The intent elements discussed in Heard remain as part of the definition of the offense and continue to be matters that the State must prove by evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.
Bedard, 668 N.W.2d at 601. The defendant asserts Bedard was a reaffirmation of the court's prior holding in Heard, and that despite the legislative amendment, assault remains a specific intent crime. The State asserts Bedard did not reaffirm Heard and that, consistent with the legislative amendment, assault is once again a general intent crime.
Upon reviewing the particular facts of this case, we conclude we are not required to decide whether assault is a general intent crime, as expressly stated in section 708.1, or whether the State must prove specific intent as required by Heard and again suggested by Bedard. Even if we assume arguendo that assault is a specific intent crime, the instruction given by the district court adequately informed the jury that the State must prove Brown acted with specific intent.
Our supreme court has explained the difference between specific and general intent as follows:
When the definition of a crime consists of only the description of a particular act, without reference to intent to do a further act or achieve a further consequence, we ask whether the defendant intended to do the prescribed act. This intention is deemed to be a general criminal intent. When the definition refers to defendant's intent to do some further act or achieve some additional consequence, the crime is deemed to be one of specific intent.
Eggman v. Scurr, 311 N.W.2d 77, 79 (Iowa 1981) (citation omitted).
Thus, specific intent requires, not simply that the defendant intend to do a particular act, but that he or she intend, in doing this act, that some further event will occur or some additional consequence will be achieved. Here, the jury was instructed that the State must prove Brown performed an act "which was intended to" have an additional consequence: to cause pain or injury to Officer Curtis, to result in physical contact that was insulting or offensive to Officer Curtis, or to place Officer Curtis in fear of an immediate physical contact which would have been painful, injurious, insulting or offensive to him. We see no meaningful difference between the phrases "which was intended to" and "with the specific intent to."
We conclude the instruction given by the district court adequately communicated the intent element Brown asserts was erroneously omitted. As such, trial counsel did not breach a duty to her client. See State v. Greene, 592 N.W.2d 24, 29 (Iowa 1999) (appellate counsel was not ineffective for failing to raise a meritless claim). Moreover, Brown cannot establish she was prejudiced by the instruction. See Atwood, 602 N.W.2d at 784. Accordingly, Brown's conviction and sentence are affirmed.