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Case No. 19-1920

Donovan Aubrey Ross
v.
State of Iowa

Appellant

Donovan Aubrey Ross

Appellee

State of Iowa

Attorney for the Appellant

Gerald J. Kucera

Attorney for the Appellee

Israel Kodiaga, Assistant Attorney General

Court of Appeals

Court of Appeals Opinion

Opinion Number:
19-1920
Date Published:
Mar 17, 2021
Summary

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Christopher L. Bruns, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by May, P.J., Schumacher, J., and Vogel, S.J.  Opinion by Vogel, S.J.  (7 pages)

            Donovan Aubry Ross appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief (PCR).  He contends the district court erred in allowing him to plead guilty to attempted murder without a factual basis.  He also argues his trial attorneys rendered ineffective assistance when they: 1) failed to advise him his codefendant’s guilty plea could be used as evidence in his case and 2) failed to investigate the defense of diminished responsibility.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we conclude Ross failed to challenge the factual basis for his plea by waiving his right to move in arrest of judgment, and he does not claim this was a result of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, we do not consider that argument.  We affirm the PCR court’s denial of postconviction relief to Ross under the first issue.  On the second and third issues, raised as ineffective assistance of trial counsel, and not as ineffective assistance of PCR counsel, we find Ross has not preserved the issues for our review.  So we affirm the denial of his application for postconviction relief.  

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