Meho Ibrahimovic, Applicant-Appellee v. State of Iowa ( 2016 )


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  •                     IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
    No. 16-0604
    Filed October 26, 2016
    MEHO IBRAHIMOVIC,
    Applicant-Appellee,
    vs.
    STATE OF IOWA,
    Respondent-Appellant.
    ________________________________________________________________
    Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Joel A.
    Dalrymple, Judge.
    The State appeals from the district court’s grant of the applicant’s
    application for postconviction relief. AFFIRMED.
    Alexander D. Smith of Parrish Kruidenier Dunn Boles Gribble Gentry
    Brown & Bergmann L.L.P, Des Moines, for appellant.
    Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Louis S. Sloven, Assistant
    Attorney General, for appellee State.
    Considered by Vogel, P.J., and Vaitheswaran and McDonald, JJ.
    2
    MCDONALD, Judge.
    Meho Ibrahimovic sought postconviction relief following his multiple
    convictions for possession of stolen property.          He claimed he received
    constitutionally ineffective assistance of counsel when his counsel failed to
    advise him of the immigration consequences of his guilty pleas. Ibrahimovic
    moved for summary disposition on his claim, contending prejudice should be
    presumed from the breach of duty.        The district court granted Ibrahimovic’s
    motion for summary disposition, concluding it was not disputed Ibrahimovic’s
    counsel breached a duty and concluding Ibrahimovic was entitled to relief as a
    matter of law because prejudice was presumed under the circumstances. The
    State timely filed this appeal.
    On appeal, the State contends the district court erred because the failure
    to advise a defendant of the immigration consequences arising from conviction
    following a guilty plea does not give rise to a presumption of prejudice. Instead,
    the State argues, State v. Straw, 
    709 N.W.2d 128
    , 133 (Iowa 2006), requires the
    applicant to establish Strickland prejudice resulted from counsel’s failure to give
    the required advice. The State did not raise this argument in the district court.
    The entirety of the State’s substantive resistance to Ibrahimovic’s motion is as
    follows:
    Resistance is supported by [plea counsel’s] deposition, the guilty
    pleas/sentencing transcripts and the court file in each of the above
    numerated cases which the State requests that the Court take
    Judicial Notice all of which support the finding that the Court should
    deny the Motion for Summary Disposition.
    The State did not argue prejudice should not be presumed or Ibrahimovic failed
    to establish prejudice.
    3
    The State’s failure to make an argument of any sort in the district court
    constitutes waiver of the argument. See State v. Baldon, 
    829 N.W.2d 785
    , 789
    (Iowa 2013) (finding the State waived “argument by not presenting it to the
    district court in a manner that would have allowed the court to fully and properly
    address it”); In re N.V., 
    744 N.W.2d 634
    , 639 (Iowa 2008) (“Ordinarily, issues not
    presented to the trial court are not reviewable when raised for the first time on
    appeal.”); State v. Miranda, 
    672 N.W.2d 753
    , 761 (Iowa 2003) (“Because the
    State does not separately address this issue, it has waived any argument to the
    contrary.”); Reyna v. State, No. 13-0126, 
    2014 WL 1234142
    , at *2 (Iowa Ct. App.
    Mar. 26, 2014) (holding State waived statute of limitations defense by failing to
    raise it); Susie v. Bennett, No. 06-0116, 
    2006 WL 3436433
    , at *4 (Iowa Ct. App.
    Nov. 30, 2006) (“Where an issue is not raised in resistance to a motion for
    summary judgment, and is not included in a motion pursuant to Iowa Rule of Civil
    Procedure 1.904(2), it is waived.”); Davison v. State, 
    671 N.W.2d 519
    , 521 (Iowa
    Ct. App. 2003) (“The issue was not raised in their resistance to the State’s motion
    for summary judgment, and the Davisons did not file a motion to enlarge
    pursuant to Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.904(2). Accordingly, the issue is
    waived.”).
    AFFIRMED.