State of Iowa v. Kirby Jay Konkler ( 2017 )

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 16-1017
Filed September 27, 2017
STATE OF IOWA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
vs.
KIRBY JAY KONKLER,
Defendant-Appellant.
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Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Union County, Patrick W.
Greenwood, Judge.
A defendant appeals his sentence following his guilty plea. AFFIRMED.
Ronald W. Kepford of Kepford Law Firm, Winterset, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Zachary C. Miller, Assistant
Attorney General, for appellee.
Considered by Danilson, C.J., McDonald, J., and Scott, S.J.*
*Senior judge assigned by order pursuant to Iowa Code section 602.9206 (2017).
2
SCOTT, Senior Judge.
Kirby Konkler pled guilty to possession of a controlled substance, third
offense, as an habitual offender. The court sentenced Konkler to a maximum
term of incarceration of fifteen years with a three-year mandatory minimum.
Konkler asserts the court abused its discretion in imposing the maximum
punishment by failing to consider his “underlying psychiatric and chemical
dependency issues.”
“[T]he decision of the district court to impose a particular sentence within
the statutory limits is cloaked with a strong presumption in its favor and will only
be overturned for an abuse of discretion or the consideration of inappropriate
matters.” State v. Formaro, 638 N.W.2d 720, 724 (Iowa 2002). The court is not
required to articulate on the record each claim of mitigation urged by the
defendant, and the failure to acknowledge a particular claim does not mean the
court failed to consider it when crafting the sentence. State v. Boltz, 542 N.W.2d
9, 11 (Iowa 1995). Upon our review of the record in this case, we find no abuse
of discretion in the court’s sentencing decision, and we affirm the same without
further opinion. See Iowa Ct. R. 21.26(1)(a), (c), (e).
AFFIRMED.