State of Iowa
v.
Matthew Douglas Harbour
Appellee
State of Iowa
Appellant
Matthew Douglas Harbour
Attorney for the Appellee
Sheryl Soich, Assistant Attorney General
Attorney for the Appellant
Shawn Smith
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, Steven P. Van Marel, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ. Opinion by Tabor, J. (7 pages)
Matthew Harbour accepted a plea agreement in which the State agreed to dismiss the habitual-offender enhancement of his operating while intoxicated (OWI) third offense eight days before the ruling in Noll v. Iowa Dist. Ct. for Muscatine County, 919 N.W.2d 232, 235 (Iowa 2018), was published. Harbour challenges the district court’s denial of his motion to sever a theft charge. Harbour also alleges his trial attorney was remiss in not protesting the plea agreement as invalid. OPINION HOLDS: Because Harbour pleaded guilty in open court, and acknowledged he was doing so knowingly and voluntarily, Harbour waived his right to appeal the adverse ruling on his motion to sever the theft charge. Next, because we have no record to verify what advice counsel gave to Harbour or that counsel anticipated Noll, we cannot decide Harbour’s ineffective-assistance claim on direct appeal.
