State v. Hagedorn
| Decision Date | 12 May 2004 |
| Docket Number | No. 03-0232.,03-0232. |
| Citation | 679 N.W.2d 666 |
| Parties | STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Donald Keith HAGEDORN, Jr., Appellant. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Linda Del Gallo, State Appellate Defender, and Robert P. Ranschau, Assistant State Appellate Defender, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Karen Doland, Assistant Attorney General, William E. Davis, County Attorney, and Robert L. Cusack, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.
The defendant, Donald Hagedorn, Jr., was convicted of burglarizing his estranged wife's home. He claims on appeal that the trial court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal because there was insufficient evidence that he had "no right, license or privilege" to enter the premises. We conclude the mere fact the defendant had previously resided at the residence in question with his family did not give the defendant an irrevocable "right, license, or privilege" to enter the premises until restrained from doing so by court order. Nor did the defendant have an absolute right to enter simply because his wife and children continued to reside there.
We think evidence that the defendant no longer lived in the marital home supports the jury's finding that he had "no right, license or privilege" to enter the residence. Therefore, the trial court did not err in refusing to enter a judgment of acquittal. Accordingly, we affirm.
At all times pertinent to this case, Donald and Sue Hagedorn were husband and wife. Prior to July 2002, they lived with their two children in a duplex leased by Sue.
In mid-July 2002 the couple separated and both moved out of the duplex. Although Sue moved most of her belongings out, Donald left his possessions in the home. Toward the end of July, Sue moved back into the duplex. At that time, she packed the defendant's belongings and placed them on the porch for his family to retrieve.
Prior to the couple's separation, Sue had begun a relationship with Donald's friend, Marvin Mooney. The defendant was upset about this relationship and after he and Sue separated, he began calling her at work and at home, sometimes up to thirty times a day. He also called Marvin and Marvin's parents, repeatedly telling them that Marvin should stay away from Sue. Sue contacted the police about the incessant calls she had been receiving from Donald, but instituted no legal proceedings against him.
After Sue moved back into the duplex, Marvin began staying with her there. A few days before the incident involved in this case, Donald walked into the bathroom while Marvin was taking a bath. Sue told the defendant to get out of the house and that she did not want him there. After this episode, Sue had the locks on the house changed so Donald could not get in. Sue told the defendant on at least four or five other occasions that he was to stay away from the duplex.
Donald ignored these repeated admonitions. In the early morning hours of August 2, 2002, the defendant, after parking his vehicle a block and a half away, removed a window screen and entered the duplex through a side window. Sue, who was sleeping with Marvin in a bedroom, was awakened by the sound of a baseball bat, swung by the defendant, striking Marvin in the head. After hitting Marvin, Donald left the way he had entered. Marvin sustained severe head injuries in the attack.
The defendant was charged with (1) attempted murder, (2) first-degree burglary, (3) willful injury, (4) going armed with intent, and (5) stalking. He pled not guilty and the case proceeded to trial. At the close of the State's case, the defendant moved for a judgment of acquittal as to all charges. With respect to the burglary charge, the defendant claimed the duplex was the marital home and Sue's desire that he not be there did not abrogate his right, license, and privilege to enter the premises. See State v. Peck, 539 N.W.2d 170, 173 (Iowa 1995) (). The court denied the defendant's motion and the defense rested without putting on any evidence.
The jury returned a verdict finding the defendant guilty of the lesser offense of assault with intent to inflict serious injury (rather than attempted murder), burglary in the first degree, willful injury, and going armed with intent. The defendant was found not guilty of stalking.
After sentencing, the defendant appealed. He raises only one issue: whether the court erred in failing to enter judgment of acquittal on the burglary charge.
"A motion for judgment of acquittal is a means for challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to sustain a conviction...." State v. Allen, 304 N.W.2d 203, 206 (Iowa 1981). We review a sufficiency-of-the-evidence ruling for correction of errors of law. State v. Thomas, 561 N.W.2d 37, 39 (Iowa 1997). If the verdict is supported by substantial evidence, we will uphold a finding of guilt. State v. Pace, 602 N.W.2d 764, 768 (Iowa 1999). "`Substantial evidence' is that upon which a rational trier of fact could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt." Id. In conducting our review, we consider all the evidence, that which detracts from the verdict, as well as that supporting the verdict. Id. We view the evidence in the light most favorable to the State. Id.
The defendant's argument on appeal is simple: he claims he cannot be convicted of burglary for entering his own house. He asserts that even though he was "temporarily" absent from the residence, it remained the marital home and he had a right to be there. He principally relies on this court's decision in Peck, where we affirmed a defendant's burglary conviction on the basis he had no right to enter the marital home after his wife had obtained a restraining order that prohibited the defendant "from coming upon any premises occupied by the petitioner and minor children...." Peck, 539 N.W.2d at 172. Contrary to the defendant's interpretation of our decision, we did not suggest in Peck that the defendant had an absolute right to enter the marital home unless restrained from doing so by a court of law. Because we held the defendant's entry was expressly proscribed by the court order, it was not necessary to decide what rights the defendant would have had in the absence of the restraining order. Id. at 173. Thus, although our general discussion of the burglary offense in that case is helpful in resolving the present case, our decision in Peck is not dispositive.
Iowa Code § 713.1 (emphasis added). As we consider whether the defendant's conduct falls within the scope of this statute, we are guided by two, sometimes competing, principles: although criminal statutes are to be strictly construed in favor of the accused, "they must be construed reasonably and in such a way as to not defeat their plain purpose." Peck, 539 N.W.2d at 173. Accordingly, we now examine the purpose of our burglary statute.
Id. (citations omitted).
The promotion of personal safety was a factor in our rejection of the defendant's challenge to his burglary conviction in Peck, where we stated that "[a]pplication of our burglary law in these circumstances will tend to discourage domestic violence and promote security in the home." 539 N.W.2d at 173. In making this statement, we relied on our decision in State v. Zeien, 505 N.W.2d 498 (Iowa 1993), a case that is also instructive here.
In Zeien, the defendant was convicted of criminal mischief for damaging marital property located in the home of his estranged wife. 505 N.W.2d at 498. The offense of criminal mischief was defined as "`[a]ny damage ... of tangible property... when done intentionally by one who has no right to so act.'" Id. (emphasis added) (quoting Iowa Code section 716.1 (1991)). The defendant argued that "because he had an ownership interest in the property [damaged], he had the `right to so act' under section 716.1." Id. He claimed that "if destruction of marital property is prohibited by section 716.1, a spouse cleaning out a closet and destroying some of its contents might be subject to criminal liability." Id. We rejected these arguments, stating:
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