IA- Iowa court reverses plea in sex abuse case

eAdvocate Post 4-8-2009 Iowa:

DES MOINES, Iowa - The Iowa Court of Appeals on Wednesday reversed a man's burglary and sex abuse conviction because he was not told of the possible punishment before he entered a plea.

Eddy Cortez entered an Alford plea in Polk County to charges of second-degree burglary and third-degree sexual abuse and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was accused of breaking into a Des Moines home in 2007 and sexually abusing a woman.

In an Alford plea, a defendant doesn't admit guilt but acknowledges there is enough evidence for a jury to convict him.

Cortez claims his plea was not voluntary because the district court failed to tell him he would be subject to lifetime parole.

(eAdvocate Post)

The appeals court agreed.

"The record here shows the district court did not inform Cortez that in pleading guilty to sexual abuse in the third-degree he would be subject to lifetime parole," the court wrote in its ruling.

The state argued that the court was not required to inform Cortez because lifetime parole is a "parole decision" and not "punishment."

The appeals court rejected that argument.

"The United States Supreme Court has noted, 'parole is an established variation on imprisonment of convicted criminals' and 'parolees are on the continuum of state-imposed punishments,"' the appeals court ruled.

"Accordingly, we conclude that parole ... is punitive in nature and thus part of the 'maximum possible punishment' of which the court was required to inform Cortez," the court wrote.

Because the court did not inform Cortez of the additional punishment, his plea was not voluntary, the court said.

"We reverse the judgment and sentence of the district court and remand the case to the court for further proceedings to allow Cortez to plead anew," the court said. ..News Source.. by MICHAEL J. CRUMB