State of Iowa v. Matthew David Fell ( 2022 )

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 21-0481
Filed March 2, 2022
STATE OF IOWA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
vs.
MATTHEW DAVID FELL,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Patrice
Eichman, District Associate Judge.
Matthew Fell appeals the district court’s acceptance of his guilty plea and
imposition of a judgment against him. APPEAL DISMISSED.
Patrick W. O'Bryan, Des Moines, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Linda J. Hines, Assistant Attorney
General, for appellee.
Considered by Bower, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Chicchelly, JJ.
2
VAITHESWARAN, Judge.
Matthew Fell pled guilty to first-degree harassment. He was informed of his
right to challenge the plea by filing a motion in arrest of judgment, and he waived
that right. The district court imposed judgment and sentence.
On appeal, Fell contends:
The trial court erred in accepting [his] guilty plea and imposing
judgment in that [his] plea was not valid in that it was not knowingly,
voluntarily, and intelligently entered as he received ineffective
assistance of standby counsel.
Fell acknowledges he must establish good cause to appeal from a guilty plea. See
Iowa Code § 814.6(1)(a)(3) (2020). He asserts “he can establish ‘good cause’
because he was innocent.”
Fell cannot establish good cause to appeal. First, Fell “waived his right to
file a motion in arrest of judgment” and “[h]is failure to file a motion in arrest of
judgment precludes appellate relief.” State v. Treptow, 960 N.W.2d 98, 109 (Iowa
2021). Second, Fell “was adequately advised of . . . the right” to file a motion in
arrest of judgment. Id. Third, the appellate courts are “without authority to decide
ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims on direct appeal.” Id. (citing Iowa Code
§ 814.7). Finally, Fell has “an appropriate vehicle” to raise a freestanding claim of
actual innocence “in chapter 822,” our postconviction-relief statute. See Schmidt
v. State, 909 N.W.2d 778, 798 (Iowa 2018). For these reasons, we dismiss Fell’s
appeal.
APPEAL DISMISSED.