State of Iowa v. Robin Ray Keith

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
No. 18-0630
Filed May 15, 2019
STATE OF IOWA,
Plaintiff-Appellee,
vs.
ROBIN RAY KEITH,
Defendant-Appellant.
________________________________________________________________
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Lucas County, Patrick W.
Greenwood, Judge.
Robin Keith appeals following pleas of guilty. AFFIRMED.
Jeffrey M. Lipman of Lipman Law Firm, P.C., West Des Moines, for
appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, and Martha E. Trout, Assistant Attorney
General, for appellee.
Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Tabor, J., and Danilson, S.J.*
*Senior judge assigned by order pursuant to Iowa Code section 602.9206 (2019).
2
DANILSON, Senior Judge.
Pursuant to a plea agreement, Robin Keith agreed to plead guilty to
exercising control over stolen property in the second degree in exchange for the
dismissal of a third-degree burglary charge. The plea agreement also involved two
other felony cases, in which the State agreed to amend a first-degree burglary
charge to two serious misdemeanors and a felony forgery charge to an aggravated
misdemeanor forgery charge. Keith entered written guilty pleas to the reduced
and amended offenses. He waived preparation of a presentence investigation
report and proceeded to immediate sentencing. No motion in arrest of judgment
was filed.
Keith appeals, contending trial counsel was ineffective and the court erred
in accepting his plea. He asserts the “strong and unfamiliar psychological
medication” he was taking interfered with his cognitive abilities and prevented him
from understanding his rights and the consequences of entering a guilty plea. He
argues counsel failed to file a motion in arrest of judgment and failed to investigate
the cognitive effects of his medications. Keith also claims the record was
inadequate to determine if the medications interfered with his understanding of the
proceedings.
We conclude the record before us is not adequate to explore this ineffective-
assistance-of-counsel claim and we preserve the claim for possible postconviction-
relief proceedings. See State v. Clay, 824 N.W.2d 488, 494 (Iowa 2012) (noting
we resolve ineffectiveness claims on appeal only when the record is adequate).
AFFIRMED.