Caldwell v. State

LARSON, Justice.

In 1984, Benjamin Caldwell was convicted of second-degree murder, and we affirmed. State v. Caldwell, 385 N.W.2d 553 (Iowa 1986) (Caldwell I). Caldwell later filed an application for postconviction relief, Iowa Code ch. 663A (1985), alleging ineffective assistance of counsel. His principal complaint was that his attorney had rejected an offer from the State to accept a guilty plea to voluntary manslaughter. The district court agreed and ordered the State to either allow Caldwell to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter or be tried again.

The State appealed the court’s finding…