IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 20-0385
Filed April 14, 2021
STATE OF IOWA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
vs.
ALICIDES MANNY HERNANDEZ,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jefferson County, Gregory Milani
(plea) and Myron Gookin (sentence), Judges.
Alicides Manny Hernandez appeals following his guilty plea to possession
of methamphetamine with intent to deliver and operating a motor vehicle with a
barred license. AFFIRMED.
Christopher A. Clausen of Clausen Law Office, Ames, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Thomas E. Bakke, Assistant
Attorney General, for appellee.
Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Ahlers, JJ.
2
VAITHESWARAN, Presiding Judge.
Alicides Manny Hernandez pled guilty to possession of methamphetamine
with intent to deliver and operating a motor vehicle with a barred license. See Iowa
Code §§ 124.401(1)(c)(6), 321.560, .561 (2019). The district court accepted the
plea and sentenced him to prison terms not exceeding ten years on the possession
count and two years on the driving count, to be served concurrently.
On appeal, Hernandez contends the district court abused its discretion in
imposing sentence. See State v. Wickes, 910 N.W.2d 554, 572 (Iowa 2018)
(“When a sentence imposed by a district court falls within statutory parameters, we
presume it is valid and only overturn for an abuse of discretion or reliance on
inappropriate factors.“ (citation omitted)). He notes that the prosecutor cross-
examined a witness about facts unrelated to the facts underlying his plea, and the
court did not disavow those facts.
A defendant must affirmatively show that the sentencing court relied on
improper evidence to overcome th[e] presumption of validity.” Id. Hernandez
essentially concedes he was unable to do so. Although the State introduced
extraneous information into the sentencing record, there is no indication that the
district court considered that information. In imposing sentence, the court cited
Hernandez’s criminal record, his use of drugs and alcohol in violation of the
conditions of pretrial supervision, his age of forty-nine, his part-time employment
and unstable housing situation, the absence of family ties to the area, and the
recommendation of the department of corrections. These were appropriate
considerations. See State v. Damme, 944 N.W.2d 98, 106 (Iowa 2020).
AFFIRMED.