Watts v. State, 2-59836

• Decision Date: 31 August 1977
• Docket Number: No. 2-59836,2-59836
• Citation: 257 N.W.2d 70
• Parties: Hayden Jasper WATTS, Appellant, v. STATE of Iowa, Appellee.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Page 70

257 N.W.2d 70

Hayden Jasper WATTS, Appellant, v. STATE of Iowa, Appellee.

No. 2-59836.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Aug. 31, 1977.

Thomas T. Skewes of Johnson & Phelan, Fort Madison, for appellant.

Richard C. Turner, Atty. Gen., James P. Hoffman, County Atty., for appellee.

Submitted to MOORE, C. J., and MASON, LeGRAND, REES and UHLENHOPP, JJ.

REES, Justice.

This is an appeal from a decree in a proceedings seeking postconviction relief under Ch. 663A, The Code. The petitioner-appellant Watts, who had pleaded guilty to the crime of attempting to break and enter, contends that he was not made aware of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination nor his Sixth Amendment right to confront his accusers at the time he entered his guilty plea, and therefore his plea was not voluntarily and intelligently made. Trial court found the petitioner had not sustained his burden of proof to establish his assertions and denied postconviction relief. We affirm the trial court.

The petitioner Watts was originally charged with the crime of breaking and entering, but as the result of a plea bargaining arrangement he entered a plea of guilty to the crime of attempting to break and enter in violation of § 708.10, The Code. Time was fixed for the imposition of sentence, at which time petitioner failed to appear, but later appeared at a rescheduled hearing and was sentenced to be imprisoned in the penitentiary for a period of not to exceed five years. He perfected a direct appeal to this court, asserting that the trial court erred in failing to inquire into his understanding of the charge and to determine if a factual basis existed for the entry of his plea of guilty and that the court further erred in not permitting him to withdraw his guilty plea. We affirmed by opinion in State v. Watts, 225 N.W.2d 143 (1975). Watts then petitioned the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Iowa for a writ of habeas corpus and following hearing the writ was annulled. This action for postconviction relief was then instituted on May 18, 1976, and the court's order and ruling denying such relief was entered on July 30, 1976, culminating in this appeal.

As mentioned above, the petitioner states only one proposition upon which he relies for reversal, namely that at the time he entered his guilty plea he was not made aware of his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination nor his Sixth Amendment right to confront his accusers.

I. Proceedings for postconviction review are special proceedings treated as an action at law triable to the court, and ordinarily in such proceedings our review is not de novo. When, as in this case, however, issues as to the violation of constitutional safeguards are raised, we are obliged to make an independent evaluation of the totality of the circumstances shown by the entire record under which rulings on such constitutional rights were made. That is to say, when a constitutional issue is presented, the evidence relative to that issue is reviewed by us de novo. Rinehart v. State of Iowa, 234 N.W.2d 649, 658 (1975), and citations.

II. The burden of proof in postconviction relief actions brought under Ch. 663A, The Code, is upon the petitioner, who is required to establish the facts asserted by a preponderance of the evidence. Parsons v. Brewer, 202 N.W.2d 49 (Iowa 1972).

III. In Brainard v. State of Iowa, 222 N.W.2d 711, which was decided by this court October 16, 1974, we set out a recommended colloquy to be utilized by courts when accepting pleas of guilty to assure that a defendant is made fully aware of his constitutional rights. Brainard was not retrospective in application and has no application to this case, as the petitioner's guilty plea was entered on May 10, 1974. In cases in which pleas of guilty were taken prior to Brainard the record must be searched to determine if the defendant was in fact made aware of or waived his constitutional rights. State v. Sisco, 169 N.W.2d 542 (Iowa 1969); Boykin v. Alabama, 395 U.S. 238, 89 S.Ct. 1709, 23 L.Ed.2d 274.

IV. At the time of the entry of his plea of guilty to the crime of attempting to break and enter, defendant was represented by appointed counsel, Barry M. Anderson. Upon the trial of the instant...