State v. Koplin

• Decision Date: 18 March 1987
• Docket Number: No. 86-511,86-511
• Citation: 402 N.W.2d 423
• Parties: STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Judith KOPLIN, Appellant.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Page 423

402 N.W.2d 423

STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Judith KOPLIN, Appellant.

No. 86-511.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

March 18, 1987.

Charles L. Harrington, Appellate Defender, and Deborah A. Goins, Asst. Appellate Defender, for appellant.

Thomas J. Miller, Atty. Gen., Roxann M. Ryan, Asst. Atty. Gen., Mary E. Richards, Co. Atty., and Steven P. Van Marel, Asst. Co. Atty., for appellee.

Considered by REYNOLDSON, C.J., and LARSON, SCHULTZ, CARTER and WOLLE, JJ.

REYNOLDSON, Chief Justice.

Judith Koplin has appealed from a judgment convicting her of False Use of a Financial Instrument (FUFI), a violation of Iowa Code section 715.6 (1985). We affirm.

The stipulated record at this bench trial conclusively shows that on January 15, 1985, Koplin's auto was involved in a collision with a car owned by Wendell Maysent at or near Ames. She had no liability insurance and her driver's license was suspended. In order to maintain her driving privileges she obtained a "General Release" form from the Department of Transportation (DOT), forged the names of Maysent and his attorney on the instrument, and filed it with the DOT. See Iowa Code §§ 321A.5, .6(4) (1985). This paper purported to "release and forever discharge Judith E. Koplin from all claims, causes of action, and demands ... resulting from the ... accident [of] January 15, 1985."

A complaint was filed in Story County district court charging Koplin with forging the release in violation of Iowa Code section 321A.32 (1985). ¹ Later this charge was abandoned and the Story County attorney filed a trial information alleging Koplin had violated Iowa Code section 715.6. ²

Koplin filed a motion to adjudicate law points, asserting her alleged actions did not and were not intended by the legislature to fall within the reach of Iowa Code section 715.6. Rather, she argued, her conduct was proscribed only by section 321A.32(3), the section under which she was charged initially. ³ Trial court, adjudicating these law issues, concluded her alleged conduct fell within the prohibition of Iowa Code section 715.6, not 321A.32(3).

Koplin waived a jury and her trial to the court was based largely on a stipulated record that included the minutes of testimony attached to the trial information. Koplin's trial counsel carefully preserved the issues originally raised in the motion to adjudicate law points by motions for judgment of acquittal and for new trial.

Trial court found the State had presented sufficient proof of FUFI and sentenced Koplin to a term not to exceed two years, which was suspended.

In this appeal Koplin reasserts the issue that Iowa Code section 321A.32(3), not 715.6, is applicable in this situation. As a fallback defense she asserts that even if Iowa Code section 715.6 is applicable, the State did not produce sufficient evidence to convict her.

I. Koplin's first issue poses a question of statutory construction. The principles generally applicable to questions of statutory construction are well established. In essence, "[t]o ascertain the legislative intent, we look to the spirit of the statute as well as the words and give [the statute] a 'sensible, workable, practical, and logical construction.' " State v. Bartusek, 383 N.W.2d 582, 583 (Iowa 1986) (quoting Hansen v. State, 298 N.W.2d 263, 265-66 (Iowa 1980)); see Iowa Code § 4.4 (1985).

We are confronted here with the construction of a criminal statute. As with all statutes, when a criminal statute is plain and its meaning clear, we look no farther than the express terms of the statute. State v. Rich, 305 N.W.2d 739, 745 (Iowa 1981). However, when ambiguities exist, criminal statutes are construed strictly with doubts resolved in favor of the defendant. State v. Soppe, 374 N.W.2d 649, 652 (Iowa 1985). This rule insures citizens will have fair warning of what actions are proscribed and can govern themselves accordingly. Rich, 305 N.W.2d at 745; State v. Welton, 300 N.W.2d 157, 160 (Iowa 1981). As a result, when charges plainly fall outside the fair scope and intent of a statute's terms, the statute will not be construed to encompass these charges even if the charges appear to fall within the reasons and policies underlying the statute. State v. Davis, 271 N.W.2d 693, 695 (Iowa 1978); State v. Kool, 212 N.W.2d 518, 520 (Iowa 1973).

In light of these general rules we return to the statutory provision under which Koplin was charged initially, Iowa Code section 321A.32(3). This statute is part of, and criminalizes, certain violations of Iowa's motor vehicle financial responsibility act. See Iowa Code §§ 321A.1-.39 (1985). In discussing this Act generally, we have stated:

Iowa Code chapter 321A [Iowa's motor vehicle financial responsibility act] requires certain persons to post a bond with the [DOT] as a means of demonstrating financial responsibility for potential claims that may arise from previous accidents, or as security for future encounters on the state's highways. [See Iowa Code §§ 321A.5, .13, .17.] We have found the overall purpose of chapter 321A is "to protect the public from financial irresponsibility of motorists upon streets and highways."

Bartusek, 383 N.W.2d at 583 (emphasis added) (quoting Motor Vehicle Casualty Co. v. LeMars Mutual Insurance Co., 254 Iowa 68, 76, 116 N.W.2d 434, 439 (1962)). Under the Act, drivers are not required to obtain insurance or other security " 'unless and until the [financial] responsibility law has been invoked by the occurrence of some event resulting in the order of a state official that security be deposited or that proof of financial responsibility be made.' " Western Casualty and Surety Co. v. General Casualty Co. of Wisconsin, 200 N.W.2d 892, 893 (Iowa 1972) (quoting United States Casualty Co. v. Brock, 345 S.W.2d 461, 464 (Tex.Civ.App.1961)); see also Walker v. American Family Mutual Insurance Co., 340 N.W.2d 599, 601 (Iowa 1983).

In this case, Koplin's license was or was about to be suspended following the January 15 collision. This suspension was required by section 321A.5(1):

The director [of DOT or designee] shall, immediately or within sixty days after the receipt of a report of a motor vehicle accident within this state which has resulted in bodily injury or death or damage to the property of any one person in excess of five hundred dollars, suspend the license of each operator ... unless the operator ... shall deposit security in a sum which shall be sufficient in the judgment of the director to satisfy any judgment or judgments for damages resulting from the accident as may be recovered against the operator....

Iowa Code § 321A.5(1) (emphasis added).

Explicit exceptions to suspension and security following an accident also are recognized by the motor vehicle financial responsibility act. See id. §§ 321A.5(2), .6. In this case, the parties agree the form filed by Koplin in an attempt to retain her driver's license was a general release form adopted by the DOT under Iowa Code section 321A.6. See 820 Iowa Admin.Code 14.4(5)(a). Section 321A.6(4) provides the requirements of security and suspension in section 321A.5 "shall not apply":

If, prior to the date that the director would otherwise suspend license and registration or nonresident's operating privilege under section 321A.5, there shall be filed with the director evidence satisfactory to the director that the person who would otherwise have to file security has been released from liability....

Iowa Code § 321A.6(4) (emphasis added).

After it was discovered the release filed by Koplin contained forged signatures, Koplin was charged with violating section 321A.32(3) of the financial responsibility act. That section makes it a serious misdemeanor for any person to forge "any notice provided for under section 321A.5 that a policy or bond is in effect, or any evidence of proof of financial responsibility." Id. § 321A.32(3).

Examining the above-quoted clauses in reverse order, we conclude the general release filed by Koplin is not "evidence of proof of financial responsibility." Id. "Proof of financial responsibility" is a term of art defined as "[p]roof of ability to respond in damages for liability, on account of accidents occurring subsequent to the effective date of the proof, arising out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of a motor vehicle." Id. § 321A.1(10) (emphasis added).

Here, the release filed by Koplin addressed only potential liability arising out of the January 15 collision and contained no evidence of her ability to respond in damages for accidents occurring subsequent to the filing and approval of the release. Further, the parties agree the release was filed to comply with section 321A.6(4), dealing with exceptions to the requirement that security be filed following an accident. See id. §§ 321A.4-.11. Releases filed under section 321A.6 are unrelated to and are not intended to satisfy those sections of the financial responsibility act concerning proof of financial responsibility for accidents occurring in the future. See id. §§ 321A.12-.29.

Nor, in our opinion, was the release filed by Koplin a "notice provided for under section 321A.5." Id. § 321A.32(3). The language of section 321A.32(3) obviously is limited and proscribes only the forgery of any "notice provided for under section 321A.5 that a policy or bond is in effect." Id. § 321A.32(3) (emphasis added). This language must be read as a direct reference to Iowa Code section 321A.5(2). That section states the requirement of security under section 321A.5 shall not apply:

a. To such operator or owner if such owner had in effect at the time of such accident an automobile liability policy with respect to the motor vehicle involved in such accident;

b. To such operator, if not the owner of such motor vehicle, if there was in effect at the time of such accident an automobile liability policy or bond with respect to the operator's operation of motor vehicles not owned by the operator;

c. To such operator or owner if the...