Opinion
No. 3-586 / 02-2008
Filed October 29, 2003
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Tama County, Richard J. Vogel, Judge.
Moreno appeals the district court's denial of his application for postconviction relief. AFFIRMED.
Barbara Schwartz, Attorney, and Bryan Bennett and Edward Kim, student legal interns, Iowa City, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kevin Cmelik, Assistant Attorney General, Brent Heeren, County Attorney, and Richard Vander Mey, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.
Heard by Mahan, P.J., and Vaitheswaran and Eisenhauer, JJ.
The State charged Rodolfo Ramirez Moreno with the simple misdemeanor crime of domestic abuse assault, for "hitting stepfather, pushing his mother, and breaking windows out of their house." See Iowa Code § 708.2A (1999). Moreno pled guilty. He later filed a postconviction relief application, alleging his plea lacked a factual basis and was not made knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily. The district court denied the application after considering testimony from Moreno.
On appeal, Moreno claims 1) the act of hitting his stepfather does not amount to domestic abuse assault and 2) Moreno's mistaken belief that the act alone constituted domestic abuse assault rendered his guilty plea involuntary. The first question requires an examination of the statutory definition of domestic abuse and is reviewed for errors of law. See Wilkins v. State, 522 N.W.2d 822, 823 (Iowa 1994). The second question raises constitutional concerns and is reviewed de novo. See State v. Blum, 560 N.W.2d 7, 9 (Iowa 1997).
I. Definition of Domestic Abuse Assault
As the name implies, "domestic abuse assault" is an "assault" which is "domestic abuse." Iowa Code § 708.2A. Moreno does not dispute that an assault occurred. See Iowa Code § 708.1. Instead, he contends his act of hitting his stepfather was not domestic abuse.
When asked at his postconviction relief hearing if he hit his stepfather, he answered, "Yes, I did."
"Domestic abuse" is defined in pertinent part as an assault "between family or household members who resided together at the time of the assault." Iowa Code § 236.2(2)(a). "Family or household member" is defined as "spouses, persons cohabitating, parents, or other persons related by consanguinity or affinity." Iowa Code § 236.2(4)(a). The question as framed by the parties is whether Moreno and his stepfather are related by "affinity."
The State concedes the other enumerated relationships do not apply.
The term "affinity" is commonly defined as a "relationship by marriage (as between a husband and his wife's blood relatives) . . . ." Webster's Third New International Dictionary 35 (1999). Black's Law Dictionary 59 (7th ed. 1993). It is legally defined as "[t]he relation that one spouse has to the blood relatives of the other spouse; relationship by marriage" or "[a]ny familial relation resulting from a marriage." Moreno argues this term does not encompass his relationship with his stepfather because "the stepfather agreed to accept the legal responsibilities of being a relative of Mr. Moreno's through the marriage, while Mr. Moreno made no corresponding compact toward the stepfather." He contends he "would have to marry into the stepfather's family" to establish a relationship by affinity. Neither the common nor the legal definition of affinity requires this type of formal agreement. It is enough to be related by marriage. As Moreno is related to his stepfather by virtue of his mother's marriage, the district court did not err in concluding his conduct was domestic abuse under Iowa Code section 236.2(2)(a).
II. Voluntary Nature of Plea
Moreno next contends his plea to domestic abuse assault was not entered knowingly, voluntarily, and intelligently. See State v. White, 587 N.W.2d 240, 242 (Iowa 1998). He asserts that when he pled guilty to domestic abuse assault "he believed he was only admitting to the assault on his stepfather," an act which, in his view, is not domestic abuse assault. We reject this contention based on 1) our conclusion that an assault by a stepson on his stepfather is indeed domestic abuse assault, 2) Moreno's admission that he hit his stepfather, and 3) Moreno's admission that he understood what he was accused of doing.
We affirm the district court's denial of Moreno's application for postconviction relief. We find it unnecessary to address Moreno's remaining arguments.