Opinion
No. 1-604 / 99-0880.
Filed January 28, 2002.
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, TIMOTHY O'GRADY, Judge.
Corey Allen Brooks appeals the judgment and sentence entered following his conviction of possession of amphetamine, more than five grams, with intent to deliver. AFFIRMED.
Linda Del Gallo, State Appellate Defender, and Patricia Reynolds, Assistant State Appellate Defender, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Jean C. Pettinger, Assistant Attorney General, Richard Crowl, County Attorney, and Jeffrey R. TeKippe, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.
Heard by HUITINK, P.J., and VOGEL and EISENHAUER, JJ.
Corey Brooks appeals from the judgment and sentence entered on his guilty plea to possession of more than five grams of amphetamine with intent to deliver, in violation of Iowa Code section 124.401(1)(b)(8) (1997). Brooks argues he was denied his Sixth Amendment right to counsel because his attorney was ineffective. Specifically, he contends counsel was ineffective in allowing him to plead guilty, and for failing to file a motion in arrest of judgment challenging the plea, because the court failed to state that it relied on the minutes of testimony in finding a factual basis for his plea and the record failed to disclose a factual basis for the plea.
Our standard for reviewing ineffective assistance of counsel claims is well settled and will not be repeated here. See State v. Martin, 587 N.W.2d 606, 609 (Iowa Ct.App. 1998).
In evaluating the factual basis for a guilty plea we consider the entire record, including the minutes of testimony, statements by the defendant and the prosecutor during the plea proceeding, as well as the presentence investigation report. We are unaware of any authority that limits our review to those items specifically referred to by the court. See State v. Keene, 630 N.W.2d 579, 581 (Iowa 2001). In any event, our de novo review of the record discloses a factual basis supporting Brooks' guilty plea. The minutes of testimony indicate that Brooks was found with a plastic bag containing 206.6 grams of a substance that field-tested positive for amphetamine as well as a digital scale commonly used to weigh narcotics for resale. Additionally, Brooks admitted during the guilty plea proceeding that the substance he possessed was amphetamine and that he intended to deliver it. We accordingly find that counsel was not ineffective in allowing Brooks to plead guilty or in failing to file a motion in arrest of judgment to challenge Brooks' guilty plea. See State v. Hoskins, 586 N.W.2d 707, 709 (Iowa 1998) (counsel is not ineffective for failing to pursue a meritless issue).
The district court decision is affirmed in its entirety.
AFFIRMED.