State v. Krana, 52936
| Decision Date | 11 June 1968 |
| Docket Number | No. 52936,52936 |
| Citation | 159 N.W.2d 413 |
| Parties | STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Huie Ernest KRANA, Appellant. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Jesse, LeTourneau & Johnston, Des Moines, for appellant.
Richard C. Turner, Atty. Gen., David A. Elderkin, Asst. Atty. Gen., and R. K. Richardson, County Atty., for appellee.
On November 9, 1966 an indictment was returned charging defendant, Huie Ernest Krana, with larceny in violation of Code section 709.1 and with being an habitual criminal as defined in section 747.1. On December 16, 1966 defendant's attorney, Robert Beebe, filed a demurrer to that portion of the indictment charging defendant as an habitual criminal. It asserted the alleged former convictions of fraud and larceny by trick were not within the felonies listed in section 747.1. This demurrer was sustained by the trial court on January 3, 1967 'without prejudice to prosecution on the main charge.'
Defendant and Mr. Beebe appeared on trial date, March 1, 1967 and after considerable plea bargaining a county attorney's information was filed charging defendant with conspiracy to commit larceny in violation of section 719.1. By agreement of defendant and his attorney the same minutes as attached to the indictment were made a part of the county attorney's information. Subsequent to a conference between defendant and his attorney they returned to the courtroom and defendant entered a formal plea of guilty to the charge in the information. The trial court accepted the plea and set May 12, 1967 as date for sentence with the announced purpose of having a presentence investigation made and also to allow defendant time after the birth of his expected child.
On May 12 defendant with his new and present attorney, Mr. Jesse, appeared and moved to withdraw his plea of guilty pursuant to section 777.15. This request was denied by the court. Thereafter defendant's request for a bench parole was heard and considered. The court than imposed the not more than three year term of imprisonment provided by section 719.1 and a bench parole was not granted. Defendant has appealed.
Defendant seeks a reversal on two grounds, (1) the trial court abused its discretion in refusing withdrawal of his guilty plea before judgment was entered and (2) the court erred in not considering on its merits and not granting his request for a bench parole.
The minutes of testimony attached to the indictment and to the county attorney's information disclose that between 4:30 and 4:50 a.m., September 28, 1966 a cigarette vending machine in the vestibule of Schoppe's Cafe on Highway 30 in Jefferson was opened and approximately $80.50 in change taken. The attendant of the service station immediately adjacent to the cafe, Harm Weers, testified defendant, Jerry Dean Baker and Robert Wayne Baclet drove into his station at 4:15 a.m. and ordered gas for their Chevrolet half-ton pickup truck. He observed the three enter the cafe vestible. Two witnesses in the cafe observed the three men in the vicinity of the machine.
The pilfered machine was discovered about 4:50 a.m. The Jefferson police were notified immediately and a radio alert was put on the Chevrolet truck. Later the truck was halted at a roadblock in Denison and the three men were arrested. All three were returned to Jefferson and pursuant to issuance of two search warrants the truck and their luggage were searched. Two bags containing small change and two other bags containing various vending machine keys were discovered. One of these keys was later found to fit and unlock the cigarette vending machine at Schoppe's Cafe. Robert Baclet, later testifying before the grand jury, admitted that he, Baker and defendant Krana committed the larceny. Thus defendant was faced with the testimony of an accomplice.
Apparently prior to March 1, Mr. Beebe had conferred with the county attorney, Mr. Richardson, regarding the possibility of defendant pleading guilty to a lesser charge. On that date in open court the county attorney informed defendant he had agreed with his counsel to allow him to plead guilty to the crime of conspiracy to commit larceny in lieu of the charge returned by the grand jury. Maximum imprisonment under the larceny charge is five years, while the maximum under the conspiracy charge is three. The county attorney clearly indicated he would not allow a later plea to conspiracy if defendant went to trial on the larceny charge. The court then indicated any question of parole would be for the parole board and stated if defendant pleaded guilty he would postpone sentence for over two months until after defendant's wife gave birth to their expected child.
The record discloses defendant apparently mistakenly believed his trial had been set for sometime in April. He requested the court to postpone trial to the next day for personal reasons. The court expressed concern over the expense of holding the entire jury panel over an additional day. The court's remarks include:
The following colloquy took place:
'The Court: No, he hasn't.
'Mr. Richardson: I don't want any coercion to force you to plead to this.
'Mr. Huie Ernest Krana: I would like to have about two minutes to give you an answer.
'The Court: Certainly.'
After a recess of eighteen minutes defendant and his attorney returned to the court room and upon arraignment on the conspiracy charge defendant was asked by the court: 'What is your plea, sir?' To which defendant personally answered: 'Guilty of conspiracy.'
I. Mr. Jesse's request to withdraw the plea of guilty was on the grounds defendant had a substantial defense to the charge and that to deny his request would prejudice defendant's rights. In response to the trial court's question Mr. Jesse stated no claim was being made defendant had been represented by...
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State v. Sisco
...application does not involve any question of guilt or innocence.' (Emphasis supplied). In the same vein this court held in State v. Krana, Iowa, 159 N.W.2d 413, 416: 'The rule is now clear that if a defendant, with full knowledge of the charge against him and of his rights and the consequen......
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State v. Hellickson
...the court may, absent abuse of discretion, refuse to permit its withdrawal. See in this regard section 777.15, Code, 1966; State v. Krana, Iowa, 159 N.W.2d 413, 416; and State v. Machovec, 236 Iowa 377, 380--383, 17 N.W.2d In any event, defendant's motion in arrest of judgment, having been ......
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State v. Whitehead
...relate to motions made before judgment and sentence. State v. Hellickson, Iowa, 162 N.W.2d 390, filed November 12, 1968; State v. Krana, Iowa, 159 N.W.2d 413, 416; State v. Machovec, 236 Iowa 377, 380--383, 17 N.W.2d 843, The distinction is sound. A defendant should not be permitted to ente......
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State v. Watts, 57397
...to permit its withdrawal. State v. Sisco, supra, Iowa, 169 N.W.2d 542, 545; State v. Hellickson, Iowa, 162 N.W.2d 390, 395; State v. Krana, Iowa, 159 N.W.2d 413, 416; State v. Bastedo, 253 Iowa 103, 111, 112, 111 N.W.2d 255, We find no abuse of discretion by the trial court in refusing with......