State of Iowa v. Walter Scott Sutton

Walter Sutton appeals his conviction for public intoxication asserting his written guilty plea was invalid and his counsel was ineffective in failing to file a motion in arrest of judgment based on the lack of a factual basis for his plea and the court’s failure to ensure he understood the nature of the charge. Because we find a factual basis to support the guilty plea and that the written record established Sutton understood the nature of the charge, we affirm his conviction.

I. Background Facts and Proceedings.

An Osceola police officer was dispatched to an apartment building on a complaint…