Opinion
No. 1-973 / 01-0751.
Filed February 6, 2002.
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, L. VERN ROBINSON, Judge.
Curtis Wayne Cason appeals the judgment and sentence entered following his guilty plea to willful injury. AFFIRMED.
Linda Del Gallo, State Appellate Defender, and David Adams, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Mary Tabor, Assistant Attorney General, J. Patrick White, Johnson County Attorney, and M. Victoria Dominguez, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.
Considered by VOGEL, P.J., and MILLER and EISENHAUER, JJ.
Curtis Wayne Cason appeals the judgment and sentence entered following his guilty plea to willful injury in violation of Iowa Code sections 708.1 and 708.4(2) (1999). He asserts the district court erred in accepting his guilty plea without a sufficient factual basis. We affirm.
Cason also entered a guilty plea to domestic assault causing injury in violation of Iowa Code sections 708.1(1) and (2), 708A.2(2)(b) and 236.2, but does not appeal that conviction and sentence.
Procedural Background . Cason filed an untimely motion in arrest of judgment challenging the plea proceedings. Although the court noted the untimeliness of the motion, it proceeded to hear arguments and overruled Cason's motion on the merits. We could affirm the district court solely on the untimeliness of the motion. State v. Hightower, 587 N.W.2d 611, 614 (Iowa Ct. App. 1998). However, since Cason also asserts the untimely filing was due to ineffective assistance of counsel, we will review the district court's ruling on the merits. See State v. Brooks, 555 N.W.2d 446, 448 (Iowa 1996) (finding failure to file a motion in arrest of judgment will not waive a challenge to the guilty plea if failure is due to ineffective assistance of counsel).
Scope of Review . We review challenges to guilty pleas for correction of errors at law. Iowa R. App. P. 4. Assertions of ineffective assistance of counsel raise constitutional claims and are reviewed de novo. State v. Schminkey, 597 N.W.2d 785, 788 (Iowa 1999).
Merits . Before accepting a guilty plea, the district court must determine the plea has a factual basis based on a review of the record as a whole. State v. Keene, 630 N.W.2d 579, 581 (Iowa 2001). Willful injury requires a finding the defendant assaulted the victim with the intent to cause serious injury and that the victim in fact sustained such injury. State v. Hickman, 576 N.W.2d 364, 366 (Iowa 1998). Cason argues there is a lack of factual support for the finding he intended to cause his victim serious injury. The State counters that Cason's explicit responses to the district court's questioning during the plea proceedings clearly indicate his intent. We agree.
Although Cason stated he did not intend to cause the victim any injuries, he readily admitted he did not have a good recollection of his acts. He did however admit to pressing a pillow over his girlfriend's face, wrapping a telephone cord around her neck, and observing her growing weak and gasping for air. Cason's attempt to deny any intent to cause his victim serious harm rings hollow, considering the acts he admitted to at the plea proceedings. See State v Delay, 320 N.W.2d 831, 835 (Iowa 1982) (stating specific intent to inflict serious injury is seldom capable of direct proof and is usually shown by circumstantial evidence). Cason's own admissions supplied the needed evidence of his intent to cause serious injury.
We find a factual basis exists in the record to affirm the trial court's denial of Cason's motion in arrest of judgment. Accordingly, his ineffective assistance of counsel claim must fail.
AFFIRMED.