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Nathan Lee Brocks
v.
State of Iowa
Appellant
Nathan Lee Brocks
Appellee
State of Iowa
Attorney for the Appellant
Webb L. Wassmer
Attorney for the 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 Linn County, The Honorable Christopher L. Bruns, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered without oral argument by Badding, P.J., Langholz, J., and Mullins, S.J. Opinion by Mullins, S.J. (5 pages)
Nathan Brocks appeals the district court’s order denying his application for postconviction relief. He contends his first-degree burglary conviction was the product of ineffective assistance because trial counsel failed to challenge the sufficiency of the evidence showing the apartment he entered was “an occupied structure in which one or more persons are present.” Iowa Code § 713.3 (2019). OPINION HOLDS: Because the defense Brocks alleges would have been meritless under our supreme court’s binding precedent, we find no breach of duty or prejudice in counsel’s failure to raise it. We therefore affirm the denial of postconviction relief.
