Santos Rosales Martinez
v.
State of Iowa
Appellant
Santos Rosales Martinez
Appellee
State of Iowa
Attorneys for Appellant
Judy Freking
Attorneys for Appellee
Louis S. Sloven, Assistant Attorney General
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Buena Vista County, Nancy L. Whittenburg, Judge. REVERSED AND REMANDED. Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ. Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J. Dissent by May, J. (13 pages)
Santos Rosales Martinez appeals the district court’s summary dismissal of his third application for postconviction relief (PCR) following his 2002 second-degree sexual abuse conviction, contending (1) his PCR counsel was ineffective in “not communicating with [him] at any time,” (2) the court “erred in hearing the State’s pre-answer motion to dismiss prior to [his] being notified that an attorney had been appointed to represent him,” and (3) the failure of the department of corrections to admit [him] to the sex offender treatment program was “a loss of the accrual of earned time” and “a substantial deprivation of his liberty interest.” OPINION HOLDS: We find the first issue dispositive, and we reverse and remand the dismissal of the postconviction-relief application. DISSENT ASSERTS: I respectfully dissent. The record and briefing are not sufficiently developed for us to decide Rosales Martinez’s ineffective-assistance claims. We should affirm and preserve his claims for development in a future postconviction-relief proceeding.
