IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 14-0534
Filed August 19, 2015
STATE OF IOWA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
vs.
ALLEN MICHAEL VERBEEK,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Tama County, Marsha M.
Beckelman, Judge.
A defendant appeals his sentence following his Alford plea to domestic
abuse assault. AFFIRMED.
Mark C. Smith, State Appellate Defender, and Vidhya K. Reddy, Assistant
Appellate Defender, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Kevin Cmelik and Sheryl A. Soich,
Assistant Attorneys General, and Brent D. Heeren, County Attorney, for appellee.
Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ.
2
MULLINS, J.
Allen Verbeek entered a written Alford1 guilty plea to domestic abuse
assault, an aggravated misdemeanor, in violation of Iowa Code section
708.2A(1) and (3)(b) (2013). In exchange, the State dismissed multiple counts
and separate pending cases. The written plea provided the court could rely on
the minutes of evidence attached to the trial information to establish a factual
basis for the plea. The plea expressly admitted his prior conviction of domestic
abuse on July 9, 2009, which the trial information stated was a third-offense
domestic abuse assault. His written guilty plea requested immediate sentencing,
waived personal presence, waived filing a motion in arrest of judgment, and
acknowledged and waived his right of allocution. The court accepted the written
plea and waiver of rights, and sentenced Verbeek consistent with the plea
agreement, reciting that the reasons for the sentence were “the Defendant’s prior
record, the plea agreement, and the nature of the offense.” Verbeek has
appealed the sentence, claiming the court did not articulate enough factors to
demonstrate that exercised its sentencing discretion.
Verbeek waived any delay in sentencing, requested immediate
sentencing, and specifically waived his right to address the court before
sentencing or to argue in mitigation of the sentence. The written plea accurately
recited the plea agreement he made with the State, offered no objection to the
State’s recommendation, and made no independent recommendation or request
1
An Alford plea allows a defendant to consent to the imposition of a prison sentence
without admitting participation in the acts constituting the crime. See North Carolina v.
Alford, 400 U.S. 25, 37 (1970).
3
of his own. The court granted his request for immediate sentencing without his
presence. On this record, the court exercised its discretion based on the
information it had before it.
AFFIRMED.