Preview:

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA No. 9-983 / 09-0895 Filed December 30, 2009

STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. RICARDO ORTIZ, Defendant-Appellant. ________________________________________________________________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Plymouth County, Jeffrey A. Neary, Judge.

Ricardo Ortiz appeals his conviction and sentence entered on a plea of guilty to first-degree robbery. SENTENCE VACATED AND REMANDED.

Mark C. Smith, State Appellate Defender, and Patricia Reynolds, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant. Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Mary Tabor, Assistant Attorney General, Darin J. Raymond, County Attorney, for appellee.

Considered by Vogel, P.J., and Doyle and Mansfield, JJ.

2 MANSFIELD, J. Ricardo Ortiz appeals the conviction and sentence entered upon his plea of guilty to first-degree robbery in violation of Iowa Code sections 711.1 and 711.2 (2009). He claims that his counsel was ineffective because his plea lacked a sufficient factual basis. We agree and therefore vacate the sentence and remand for further proceedings. I. Factual and Procedural Background. According to the minutes of evidence, K.S. was in her home at around 9:30 p.m. on January 18, 2009, when three individuals barged into the house through the door between the garage and the house. All were wearing ski

masks. The first intruder was wielding a box cutter type knife that contained a razor blade. K.S. was extremely frightened and started yelling. F.T., a male who also lived in the home, was in the master bedroom at the time. K.S. tried to push the door of the bedroom closed while the first intruder got in between the door and the room and kept pushing the door open. F.T. made an emergency call, and two deputies quickly arrived on the scene. The intruders had left by then, but the deputies were able to pursue their car until it got stuck in the snow. Two persons, Ivan Flores and Armando

Valentin, were apprehended in the car. Three other individuals, Ortiz, Michael Carson, and David Zamora, were caught after they fled into the snow. Ortizs footprints matched one of the three sets of footprints found at K.S. and F.T.s home. Carsons and Floress footprints matched the other two.

3 Under questioning, Ortiz admitted he was one of the persons who entered the house "to see what they could get." Ortiz admitted wearing a black stocking cap and a red bandanna. Zamora was also questioned. He stated that Ortiz, Carson, and Flores had entered the house while Zamora and Valentin waited in the car. According to Zamora, Ortiz, Carson, and Flores all belonged to the "Latin Kings" gang of Sioux City. Zamora stated that he was at a friends house when Ortiz, Carson, and Flores were in a backroom planning a job. According to Zamora, Ortiz, Carson, and Flores carried black trash bags into the house with them for placing stolen items. While the group was trying to get away in the car, Carson threw something out. One of the sheriffs deputies later found a fixed blade five-inch knife with a black rubber handle and a silver metal hatchet with a black rubber handle in the same ditch along the road where the car ultimately got stuck. Black ski masks and black trash bags were also recovered. Subsequently, K.S. examined photographs of Carson and stated that he appeared to be the same person who brandished the box cutter knife in her residence. Ortiz, who had just turned seventeen when these acts were committed, was initially charged with robbery in the first degree, burglary in the first degree, conspiracy to commit robbery, and conspiracy to commit burglary in the first degree. On April 3, 2009, Ortiz pled guilty to the robbery charge only. See Iowa Code

Download STATE OF IOWA, Plaintiff-Appellee, vs. RICARDO ORTIZ, Defendant-Appellant..pdf

Iowa Law