State of Iowa
v.
Prince Mellish
Appellee
State of Iowa
Appellant
Prince Mellish
Attorney for the Appellee
Thomas J. Ogden, Assistant Attorney General
Attorney for the Appellant
Elizabeth Araguas
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Muscatine County, Gary P. Strausser, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Vogel, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Potterfield, JJ. Opinion by Vogel, C.J. (7 pages)
Prince Mellish appeals his conviction and sentence for theft in the third degree. He argues his counsel was ineffective for allowing him to sign a plea agreement that incorrectly states the law and for failing to correctly explain how his guilty plea would affect his immigration status. OPINION HOLDS: We find the plea agreement correctly states he has an obligation to understand his immigration status and no prejudice resulted from his counsel’s claimed failure to investigate the divisibility of his theft charge. Therefore, we affirm.