IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 13-1055
Filed October 1, 2014
STATE OF IOWA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
vs.
HAROLD MARCELLE BILLINGTON,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Carol L. Coppola
(motion) and Gregory D. Brandt (plea and sentencing), District Associate Judges.
Appeal from guilty plea to domestic abuse assault causing injury, claiming
ineffective assistance. AFFIRMED.
Mark C. Smith, State Appellate Defender, and Rachel C. Regenold,
Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Martha E. Trout, Assistant Attorney
General, John P. Sarcone, County Attorney, and Mike Salvner, Assistant County
Attorney, for appellee.
Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and McDonald, JJ.
2
MCDONALD, J.
Harold Billington appeals from his conviction of domestic abuse assault
enhanced, second offense. He claims his guilty plea was not knowing or
voluntary because his attorney rendered constitutionally ineffective assistance of
counsel by not advising Billington that foregoing trial waived any challenge to the
court’s ruling on Billington’s request for the victim’s mental health records.
We note that a party “may, but is not required to, raise an ineffective
assistance claim on direct appeal . . . if the party has reasonable grounds to
believe that the record is adequate to address the claim on direct appeal.” Iowa
Code § 814.7(2) (2013). Billington’s counsel concedes the record is not
adequate to address his claim on direct appeal and requests the claim be
preserved for postconviction relief proceedings. Filing a direct appeal solely to
preserve a claim for ineffective assistance of counsel is unnecessary to protect
the defendant’s right to seek relief. See Iowa Code § 814.7 (“The claim need not
be raised on direct appeal from the criminal proceedings in order to preserve the
claim for postconviction relief purposes.”). Filing a direct appeal solely to
preserve such a claim merely wastes the parties’ resources. We agree the
record is inadequate to address Billington’s claim; consequently, we preserve the
claim for possible postconviction relief proceedings. See State v. Johnson, 784
N.W.2d 192, 198 (Iowa 2010) (determining a court “must preserve” an ineffective
assistance claim if the record is inadequate to address it on direct appeal).
AFFIRMED.