Opinion
No. 1-859 / 01-0586.
Filed January 9, 2002.
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, KAREN ROMANO, District Associate Judge.
Defendant-appellant Troy Rhodes appeals his conviction and sentence for indecent contact with a child, in violation of Iowa Code section 709.12 (1999), with a previous conviction for a sexually predatory offense as defined in Iowa Code sections 901A.1 and 901A.2(1). AFFIRMED.
Linda Del Gallo, State Appellate Defender, and Theresa R. Wilson, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Darrel L. Mullins, Assistant Attorney General, John P. Sarcone, Polk County Attorney and Michael T. Hunter, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.
Considered by SACKETT, C.J., and MAHAN and HECHT, JJ.
Defendant-appellant Troy Rhodes appeals his conviction and sentence for indecent contact with a child, in violation of Iowa Code section 709.12 (1999), with a previous conviction for a sexually predatory offense as defined in Iowa Code sections 901A.1 and 901A.2(1). Defendant claims on appeal that he received ineffective assistance of counsel in that his counsel should have moved for a new trial, objected to the officer's statement of the victim's report, and objected to the victim's mother's testimony that her child was being truthful. We affirm defendant's conviction but preserve his claims of ineffective assistance of counsel for postconviction proceedings.
Ten-year-old S.J., who met defendant at the Churches United homeless shelter in Des Moines, claimed defendant fondled her. While defendant and S.J. were participating in the same game, defendant allegedly hugged S.J., and then moved his hands over her groin and buttocks. S.J. did not immediately report what defendant had done, and when she did report it, she included facts which were apparently untrue, including the allegation that defendant had touched her beneath her clothes. Testimony by S.J., while it was consistent in the claim that defendant had touched her inappropriately, contained several inconsistencies. Testimony by police officer McDermott indicated that defendant later admitted he had touched S.J.'s vaginal area and buttocks over her clothes while they were wrestling, but claimed he had never put his hand down her pants.
Generally, ineffective assistance of counsel claims are preserved for postconviction proceedings to allow trial counsel an opportunity to defend the charge. State v. Mulder, 313 N.W.2d 885, 890 (Iowa 1981). Accordingly, we preserve this claim for postconviction proceedings so the facts can be further developed. See State v. Bass, 385 N.W.2d 243, 245 (Iowa 1986).
AFFIRMED.