Case No. 19-0555

State of Iowa
v.
Shawn Patrick Shelton

Appellee

State of Iowa

Appellant

Shawn Patrick Shelton

Attorney for the Appellee

Benjamin Parrott, Assistant Attorney General

Attorney for the Appellant

Peter Stiefel (until withdrawal) and Fred Stiefel

Court of Appeals

Court of Appeals Opinion

Summary

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Lucas County, Terry Rickers, Judge.  WRIT SUSTAINED IN PART; ANNULLED IN PART; AND REMANDED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., May, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Blane, S.J.  (17 pages)

            The defendant challenges the denial of his motion for new trial contending the court failed to give adequate notice of the hearing and denied him an opportunity to present evidence as required by Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 2.24(2)(A).  He also contends the court failed to establish his waiver of counsel and erred in denying his post-hearing request for court-appointed counsel on mootness grounds.  OPINION HOLDS: We treat the appeal as a petition for writ of certiorari.  We find the trial court acted illegally in ruling on the defendant’s motion for new trial without giving adequate notice of the hearing and failing to give the defendant full opportunity to present evidence on the motion and therefore sustain the writ.  We find the court did not act illegally regarding the motion to amend the motion for new trial since we remand for hearing on the motion for new trial.  We also find the court did not act illegally in only appointing standby counsel, and due to remand, direct the court to address the renewed appointment of counsel request.  We annul the writ as to these last two issues.