State v. Walker

NEUMAN, Justice.

Defendant, Russell Walker, seeks to reverse the judgment entered on his guilty plea to willful injury on the ground the conviction merged, as a matter of law, with his companion plea to the crime of voluntary manslaughter. The State counters that Walker entered knowing and voluntary pleas to two separate crimes and, therefore, merger under Iowa Code section 701.9 (1997) is not required. Under the unique facts of this case, we are convinced the State is correct. We therefore affirm.

The facts giving rise to this pointless tragedy were established during the plea proceedings. A…