Charles Francis
v.
State of Iowa
Appellant
Charles Francis
Appellee
State of Iowa
Attorney for the Appellant
Christopher A. Clausen
Attorney for the Appellee
Zachary Miller, Assistant Attorney General
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Poweshiek County, Lucy J. Gamon, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ. Opinion by Schumacher, J. Special Concurrence by Vaitheswaran, P.J. (11 pages)
Charles Francis appeals the district court order dismissing his application for postconviction relief (PCR). OPINION HOLDS: Francis’s PCR application was untimely. The district court did not abuse its discretion by failing to appoint counsel as Francis’s application did not present a cognizable claim. We affirm the decision of the district court. SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: I agree Francis failed to allege facts that placed his claims within the ground-of-fact exception to the three-year time bar. I am not convinced the merits of Francis’ claim whether couched as a freestanding claim of actual innocence or as a newly-discovered evidence claim could be resolved on a motion to dismiss. Accordingly, I would simply affirm the district court’s decision on statute-of-limitations grounds.
