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Case No. 20-0850

Michael Roach
v.
State of Iowa

Appellant

Michael Roach

Appellee

State of Iowa

Attorney for the Appellant

Jack Bjornstad

Attorney for the Appellee

Darrel Mullins, Assistant Attorney General

Court of Appeals

Court of Appeals Opinion

Opinion Number:
20-0850
Date Published:
Dec 15, 2021
Summary

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, William P. Kelly, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (8 pages)

            Michael Roach challenges the denial of his application for postconviction relief following his conviction of first-degree robbery and second-degree murder.  Roach believes that a 2018 supreme court ruling, Schmidt v. State, 909 N.W.2d 778 (Iowa 2018), and the 2017-enacted “stand your ground” law, Iowa Code section 704.13, combine to create a new legal ground to claim actual innocence that was not available to him during the three-year statute of limitations for his PCR claims.  OPINION HOLDS: As Iowa Code section 704.13 is not retroactive, it cannot work with the Schmidt holding to create a new legal ground.  No other issues were preserved for our review.  We affirm the denial of the PCR application.

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