Polly v. State

• Decision Date: 19 September 1984
• Docket Number: No. 83-1095,83-1095
• Citation: 355 N.W.2d 849
• Parties: Douglas Robert POLLY, Appellee, v. STATE of Iowa, Appellant.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Page 849

355 N.W.2d 849

Douglas Robert POLLY, Appellee, v. STATE of Iowa, Appellant.

No. 83-1095.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Sept. 19, 1984.

Thomas J. Miller, Atty. Gen., Joseph P. Weeg, Asst. Atty. Gen., Michael P. Jensen, County Atty., for appellant.

Robert L. Sikma, Sioux City, for appellee.

Considered en banc.

REYNOLDSON, Chief Justice.

Despite his failure to challenge his 1975 murder conviction by direct appeal to this court, petitioner Douglas Robert Polly was granted postconviction relief on June 17, 1983. District court set aside his conviction and ordered a new trial. The State appeals from that decision and we reverse.

April 21, 1975, a Monona County grand jury indicted Polly for his wife's murder. The minutes of testimony disclosed the State had evidence that at about 7:30 p.m. on March 28, 1975, Polly returned to the Onawa grocery store where he had worked until 6 p.m. He purchased five 100-pound burlap bags for five cents each. Sometime after 6 p.m. on that date, several large cardboard boxes were placed near the door of the Polly home in Onawa. At about 9:10 p.m. on the same evening, Polly telephoned a local funeral director. He reported his wife had died, furnished the street address, and requested the director to come to the home and pick up the body. The director asked Polly if he had called a doctor. Polly responded he would call Dr. Bill Garred.

At 9:50 p.m., Polly arrived at the public safety center. He told an officer he wanted to give himself up, and stated, "I think I killed my wife, my wife is dead." Law officers and Dr. Garred who proceeded to the home found Mrs. Polly dead on the bathroom floor. Her nude body was covered partially by a bedspread and burlap bags. She had been cut in the left breast and right side. Her throat had been cut and she had been shot through the head by a bullet exiting her left eye. There was blood in the bathtub and a bullet hole in the wall about six inches above the tub. Following autopsy a pathologist concluded the victim suffered the bullet wound first, was still alive when the cutting occurred, and any one of the three major wounds could have caused her death.

At the crime scene officers found a .22 caliber rifle in the bedroom, .22 caliber shells on the bedroom floor, a spent .22 cartridge on the kitchen table, and a spent .22 slug in the bathroom wall above the tub. A butcher knife with the victim's blood type on it was found in a paper sheath in a kitchen cabinet. There was no sign of struggle in the house.

The grand jury evidence further disclosed that back at the public safety center, Polly, although apparently emotional and distraught, told other officers (who administered the Miranda warning) that he and his wife were arguing, "[h]er place was in the home, she didn't want to stay home." He stated he did not want her to work away from the home. Polly recalled having a knife in his hand and stabbing her. When asked if he remembered shooting his wife, he replied "[j]ust pointed at her." Polly stated he needed psychiatric help. He correctly stated his age, twenty-four, and the age of his eighteen-year-old wife. There was blood of the victim's type on his trouser legs and shirt. Although this was also Polly's blood type, he had no cuts or abrasions on his body. Upon laboratory analysis, Polly's blood tested negative for alcohol, "amphetamine, barbiturates, opiates and other common stimulates and depressants."

At about 10:30 p.m. on the evening of the homicide, an experienced Onawa attorney, Robert D. Prichard, became involved in the case, representing Polly. Preliminary information lodging an open charge of murder against Polly was filed the next day, March 29, 1975. Arraignment was held March 31, 1975. At that time the county attorney presented an application requesting that Polly's custody be placed in "the Superintendent of the Iowa Security Medical Facility at Oakdale, Iowa, for evaluation as to his legal sanity during the commission of said murder and at the present time for purposes of standing trial, and for psychiatric treatment, if necessary." Defendant appeared with his attorney, Prichard, and waived preliminary hearing. The record shows the "defense" agreed to the county attorney's application for psychiatric evaluation. Pursuant to this agreement and an implementing order, Polly first was held at the men's reformatory at Anamosa, then transferred to the Oakdale facility on April 3, 1975. June 5, 1975, Dr. Paul L. Loeffelholz, clinical director, wrote an evaluation report addressed to "Presiding Judge, Third Judicial District of Iowa, Monona County Courthouse."

This evaluation was lengthy and detailed. The doctor reported that on admission Polly displayed some emotional instability relative to his predicament, but was well aware of his charges and the possible consequences. A physical examination was normal, as was an electroencephalogram. He had no history of significant mental illness, but was slow mentally, having an IQ of 79, and had a history of personality weaknesses in that he lacked self-confidence and tended to be overly dependent. Polly "had a strong tendency to avoid dealing with unpleasant experiences." He indicated he and his wife were having a disagreement and claimed he had a "picture" of himself holding the gun and also a "picture" of some physical involvement with his deceased wife. He denied any memory for any significant animosity, hatred or malice toward his wife. Finally, Dr. Loeffelholz expressed the following conclusions:

Mr. Polly is competent to participate in judicial proceedings, as he is well aware of the nature and quality of the charges placed against him and the consequences if found guilty. He is aware of the proceedings which must take place in order to resolve these matters. This man is now sufficiently emotionally stable so as to be able to participate in these judicial proceedings. He has the capacity to remain in confinement in his local community pending completion of these matters....

It is this examiner's impression that Mr. Polly was experiencing a multitude of feelings at the time of his discussion with his wife on the evening of March 25, 1975. There is no evidence that he was suffering from any major psychiatric illness at that specific time. It is impossible to accurately state just what did happen at the time of the alleged fatal assault. It is my feeling that his feelings of frustration, disappointment, and irritability at not being able to effectively organize his life, as well as his feelings of abandonment by his wife (going to work), all contributed to impulsive, unpremeditated acts of aggression towards an individual for whom he had primarily positive feelings. Nevertheless, the record appears to indicate that he had the capacity to use a gun and knife in a manner which allegedly resulted in the death of his wife. It is this examiner's belief that this behavior indicates sufficient capacity to form intent consistent with accountability for his alleged illegal acts. The degree of accountability is a matter which will need to be decided on all of the evidence available to the Court.

Polly was returned to the Monona County jail on June 11, 1975. June 26, 1975, he was arraigned in district court. He was found financially unable to employ counsel after being orally examined under oath by the court. Polly selected Robert D. Prichard (who was present) to be his attorney and the court made the appointment. Polly pled not guilty and acknowledged receipt of a copy of the indictment. A date was set for hearing on a motion to reduce appearance bond.

August 6, 1975, Polly and attorney Prichard again appeared in district court, Judge R.K. Brannon presiding, requesting leave of court to change the plea from not guilty to guilty. Years later attorney Prichard testified that, "I had originally advised him of his probabilities of trying the case and explored with him what I thought was a defense, but it was his election to plead and accept the plea bargain that was offered us." The calendar entry ¹ for the August 6 hearing is signed by the judge and states, "Defendant is advised of his right to trial and other rights as set forth in State v. Sisco, [169 N.W.2d 542 (Iowa 1969) ]; Defendant states plea is voluntary, without promise or coercion and is made after consultation with his attorney." Not all of these proceedings, however, appear in the hearing transcript. With reference to the Sisco requirements, there appears only the court's warning to Polly that by his plea he was waiving trial, which the latter acknowledged.

The court also made reference to the degree-of-guilt hearing then required by Iowa Code section 690.4 (1975). See Iowa Code Ann. § 690.4 (West 1950) (repealed 1976). In this connection the court stated the letter from Oakdale "informed us this is not premeditated," that if the examining doctor could not appear the court wanted Polly "to read that letter and let us use it in court to show the degree of guilt." To this attorney Prichard replied, "The letter was addressed to the court for that reason." Sentencing hearing was set for August 20, 1975.

Following this court appearance attorney Prichard did some "judge-shopping," later testifying that "I talked to two or three different judges, and we finally settled on Judge Brannon, who indicated that he would give--impose a thirty-year sentence."

At the hearing on August 20, 1975, Polly again was given the opportunity to retract his guilty plea, although the court stated it "tentatively" had accepted it. The record indicates the court had taken into consideration Dr. Loeffelholz's letter on the degree-of-guilt issue. District court informed Polly:

Murder in the first degree carries a mandatory life sentence. Murder in the second degree can carry a life sentence or it can carry a term of years. The County Attorney has informed me and your defense lawyer that if you plead guilty and it is determined that it was second...