State v. Mott
| Decision Date | 04 May 2007 |
| Docket Number | No. 05-1563.,05-1563. |
| Citation | 731 N.W.2d 392 |
| Parties | STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Harlan MOTT, Jr. Appellant. Harlan Mott, Jr., Plaintiff, v. Iowa District Court for Polk County, Defendant. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Mark C. Smith, State Appellate Defender, and Dennis D. Hendrickson, Assistant State Appellate Defender, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Richard J. Bennett, Assistant Attorney General, John P. Sarcone, County Attorney, and Steve Foritano, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.
This case requires us to determine whether Harlan Mott, who was sentenced to a jail term of one year in the county jail for a misdemeanor assault conviction and later ordered to consecutively serve an additional 150 days in a county jail as punishment for contempt committed during the trial on the assault charge, should be incarcerated in the county jail or committed to the custody of the director of the Iowa Department of Corrections. Mott claims his terms of imprisonment for assault and contempt constitute a "continuous term of imprisonment" in excess of one year for which the district court must commit him to the custody of the director of the Iowa Department of Corrections. The State contends the district court correctly ordered Mott confined in county jail because contempt may only be punished by imprisonment in a county jail pursuant to Iowa Code section 665.4 (2005). For the reasons that follow, we affirm the district court's order requiring Mott's confinement in the county jail and annul the writ.
On August 29, 2005, a jury found Harlan Mott not guilty of tampering with a witness and guilty of assault causing bodily injury. The district court sentenced Mott to one year in the Polk County jail. Mott filed a notice of appeal.
A separate contempt proceeding followed as a consequence of an outburst by Mott, who screamed and sang profanity directed at the court on the second day of the criminal trial. The district court found, in an order filed on September 28, 2005, that Mott's outburst constituted contempt, in violation of sections 665.2(1) and 665.2(2). The court imposed a 150-day term of imprisonment in the Polk County jail, to run consecutively to the sentence imposed in the underlying criminal action.
On October 21, Mott filed a pro se petition for writ of certiorari alleging the court was statutorily required to commit him to the custody of the director of the Department of Corrections rather than order his imprisonment in the county jail. See Iowa Code § 665.11 (). We issued the writ. Mott's certiorari action has been consolidated for our review with Mott's direct appeal from the August 29, 2005, order relating to the underlying criminal action.
Our review of the sentence imposed in a criminal case is for correction of errors at law. See State v. Morris, 416 N.W.2d 688, 689 (Iowa 1987); Iowa R.App. P. 6.4. The correctness of the district court's order directing that Mott's punishment for contempt be served in the county jail turns on the interpretation of a statute. We review questions of statutory construction for correction of errors of law. State v. Vargason, 607 N.W.2d 691, 695 (Iowa 2000).
Our analysis of whether Mott must be committed to the custody of the director of the Department of Corrections rather than imprisoned in the county jail under the circumstances of this case begins with section 901.8 ("consecutive sentences"). The statute provides, in relevant part, a "sentencing judge may order the second or further sentence to begin at the expiration of the first or succeeding sentence," and "if consecutive sentences are specified in the order of commitment, the several terms shall be construed as one continuous term of imprisonment." Section 901.8 is found in Iowa Code Title XVI ("Criminal Law and Procedure"), Subtitle 3 ("Criminal Corrections"). The references to sentencing in the language of the statute, considered in conjunction with its placement within the Code, plainly indicate that section 901.8 only applies when a defendant is ordered to serve multiple terms of imprisonment as a consequence of criminal offenses.
We conclude section 901.8 is inapplicable in this case. Mott received one criminal sentence—a one-year term of imprisonment—for assault. He was subsequently "punished," not "sentenced," for contempt pursuant to section 665.4, which expressly prescribes "punishment for contempt." (Emphasis added.) Contempt proceedings are quasi-criminal, not criminal, in nature. See State v. Sharkey, 574 N.W.2d 6, 7 (Iowa 1997) (citing Phillips v. Iowa Dist. Ct., 380 N.W.2d 706, 708-09 (Iowa 1986)).
Because section 901.8 is inapplicable, the sentence for criminal assault and the punishment for contempt must be considered in isolation, not as "consecutive sentences" constituting "one continuous term of imprisonment." Mott's assault conviction resulting in a sentence of confinement for a period of one year must, under section 903.4, be served in the county jail. Mott must serve his separate punishment for contempt in the county jail, pursuant to section 665.4. Therefore, the district court correctly ordered Mott to serve all of the jail time in the county...
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... ... Seering, 701 N.W.2d 655, 661 (Iowa 2005) (citing State v. Hernandez-Lopez, 639 N.W.2d 226, 233 (Iowa 2002)). This court reviews the district court's interpretation of a statute for correction of errors at law. Iowa R.App. P. 6.4; State v. Boggs, 741 N.W.2d 492, 498 (Iowa 2007); State v. Mott, 731 N.W.2d 392, 394 (Iowa 2007) ... III. Issues Waived ... In his brief to this court, Wade does not argue due process or overbreadth ... 757 N.W.2d 623 ... as reasons for upholding the district court's ruling. He has therefore waived these issues. See ... ...
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