IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 18-0608
Filed January 23, 2019
STATE OF IOWA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
vs.
CHRISTOPHER JAMES BEARDSHEAR,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Washington County, Daniel P.
Kitchen, District Associate Judge.
Christopher Beardshear appeals his conviction for operating while
intoxicated, first offense. AFFIRMED.
Shawn C. McCullough of Powell and McCullough, PLC, Coralville, for
appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Louis S. Sloven, Assistant Attorney
General, for appellee.
Considered by Vogel, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and McDonald, JJ.
2
VOGEL, Chief Judge.
Christopher Beardshear appeals his conviction for operating while
intoxicated, first offense. On March 1, 2018, he submitted a written plea of guilty
to the charge and waived his right to a personal appearance. On the plea,
Beardshear acknowledged, “I am in good health. I am not now under the influence
of any stimulant, drugs or alcohol. I have no physical or mental defects that prevent
me from understanding the charge(s) or proceedings.” On March 6, the district
court entered judgment based on his written plea.
He now appeals, asserting his trial counsel was ineffective for allowing him
to plead guilty when he was under that influence of medication that prevented him
from knowingly and voluntarily entering a plea. The record before us lacks any
basis to evaluate his claim. Therefore, we affirm his conviction and preserve his
ineffective-assistance claim for possible postconviction proceedings. See State v.
Coil, 264 N.W.2d 293, 296 (Iowa 1978) (“Even a lawyer is entitled to his [or her]
day in court, especially when his [or her] professional reputation is impugned.”).
AFFIRMED.