Issue
- Whether the parties in a criminal case can, by plea agreement, confer on the district court the authority to order defense counsel reimbursement fees in a dismissed case.
Holding
- Where, as here, no statute authorizes a district court to assess costs in a dismissed criminal case, including counsel fees in the dismissal order exceeds the court’s authority and makes the order invalid.
Facts
Ronald Pagliai was charged in four separate cases for shoplifting. As part of a single plea agreement to resolve the cases, Pagliai agreed to plead guilty in two of the theft cases, and the State agreed to dismiss the two remaining cases, as long as Pagliai agreed to pay the costs in the dismissed cases. Pagliai filed notices of appeal from his convictions. Pagliai’s application for discretionary review to address his challenge to the district court’s authority to assess costs in the dismissed cases was granted.
Court’s Reasoning
- Iowa’s Code authorizes the district court to assess indigent defense fees and costs against a defendant only when the defendant “is convicted in a criminal case” or is “acquitted in a criminal case”, “to the extent the person is reasonably able to pay.” A dismissal is neither a conviction nor an acquittal. There is no judgment of conviction in a dismissed case. Thus, the district court has no statutory authority to impose restitution in a dismissed case.
- Because the case could be decided on statutory grounds, the majority opinion declined to examine the constitutional due process claims in the case. In his concurrence, however, J. McDermott reasoned that:
- “The Due Process Clauses of both the United States and Iowa Constitutions protect a defendant’s presumption of innocence and prohibit a state from presuming a person who has not been adjudged guilty of no crime, is guilty enough for monetary exactions.”
- “The label attached to the financial obligation in a dismissed case—’costs,’ ‘fees,’ ‘indigent defense fee recoupment,’ ‘restitution’—does not change its character; it is a court-ordered punishment in a criminal case imposed on someone who has not been convicted of the crime.”
Outcome
The court vacated the defendant’s convictions, sentences, and dispositional orders and remanded these cases for further proceedings.