State of Iowa v. Richard Allen Sharples

── State of Iowa v. Richard Allen Sharples ── Court: Supreme Court of Iowa Date: May 29, 2026 Category: General In the Iowa Supreme Court No. 24–1848 Submitted April 15, 2026—Filed May 29, 2026 State of Iowa, Appellee, vs. Richard Allen Sharples, Appellants, On review from the Iowa Court of Appeals. Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Jeffrey C. McDaniel, judge. A criminal defendant seeks further review of a court of appeals decision that affirmed the habitual offender enhancement to his sentence. Decision of Court of Appeals Vacated; District Court Judgment Affirmed. Waterman, J., delivered the opinion of the court, in which Mansfield, McDonald, and May, JJ., joined. Oxley, J., filed a dissenting opinion, in which Christensen, C.J., and McDermott, J., joined. Martha J. Lucey, State Appellate Defender, and Mary K. Conroy, Assistant Appellate Defender, for appellant. Brenna Bird, Attorney General, and David Banta and Linda J. Hines (until withdrawal), Assistant Attorneys General, for appellee.  2 Waterman, Justice. This case turns on three burglaries: one in Washington, charged in January of 2014 that resulted in a conviction in August of 2015; one in Oregon, charged in October of 2014 that resulted in a conviction in April of 2015; and one in Iowa, charged in May of 2024, that concluded with a guilty plea entered in November of 2024. It is from this guilty plea that Richard Sharples appeals. He argues that the district court made two mistakes when it sentenced him: (1) it incorrectly applied the “habitual offender” enhancement in Iowa Code section 902.8 (2024), and (2) it considered improper sentencing factors. The court of appeals found no error in the district court’s sentencing order. On our review, we apply the plain text of Iowa Code section 902.8 to affirm the enhancement. And we conclude that Sharples failed to show that the sentencing court relied on improper sentencing factors. I. Factual and Procedural Background. Between 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on May 1, 2024, Sharples burgled three houses in Davenport, Iowa. On May 9, Davenport police located and arrested Sharples. On May 17, the State charged Sharples by trial information with three counts of burglary in the third degree, two counts of criminal mischief in the second degree, one count of burglary in the second degree, and one count of theft in the second degree. Sharples pleaded guilty on August 8 to three counts of burglary in the third degree and one count of burglary in the second degree. As part of the plea bargain, he agreed to be sentenced as a habitual offender for the charge of burglary in the second degree. Iowa Code Section 902.8 defines a habitual offender as: An habitual offender is any person convicted of a class “C” or a class “D” felony, who has twice before been convicted of any felony  3 in a court of this or any other state, or of the United States. An offense is a felony if, by the law under which the person is convicted, it is so classified at the time of the person’s conviction. A person sentenced as an habitual offender shall not be eligible for parole until the person has served the minimum sentence of confinement of three years. In short, before the sentencing enhancement can apply, the defendant must have two qualifying prior felony convictions. Sharples’s qualifying prior felonies occurred in other states. Sharples committed the first felony (the Washington case) (a residential burglary) in Clark County, Washington, and the second felony (the Oregon case) (three counts of burglary, identity theft, and theft in the first degr