## Facts

- William Joseph Schminkey spent the evening of May 17, 1997 drinking at a party and then at a bar.
- Schminkey had no recollection of leaving the bar, but witnesses placed him driving a pickup owned by Dale Kimm, whom Schminkey did not know.
- Schminkey did not have Kimm’s permission to drive the pickup.
- Witnesses observed the pickup being driven erratically, speeding toward an intersection, and proceeding through without slowing before striking two stopped vehicles.
- Nineteen-year-old Jason Kray died while being transported to the hospital.
- After the collision, the pickup continued for about a block and then crashed into a fence; witnesses reported Schminkey smelled strongly of alcohol.
- Schminkey was charged with homicide by vehicle and theft of a motor vehicle; an additional manslaughter count was later dismissed.
- Pursuant to a plea agreement, Schminkey entered Alford pleas to homicide by vehicle and theft of a motor vehicle, and received consecutive sentences of ten years and five years.
- The plea record contained evidence of intoxication, unauthorized operation, and the crash, but no direct evidence explaining how Schminkey obtained the truck or showing an intent to keep it or otherwise permanently dispossess the owner.

## Issues

1. Whether the plea record contained a sufficient factual basis for the specific intent to permanently deprive required for theft of a motor vehicle under Iowa Code §§ 714.1 and 714.2(2).
2. Whether counsel was ineffective for failing to object to an alleged breach of the plea agreement at sentencing.

## Decision

- The Iowa Supreme Court granted further review and vacated the court of appeals’ decision.
- The court held the plea record did not establish a factual basis for theft of a motor vehicle because it failed to show the required specific intent to permanently deprive the owner.
- The court vacated the theft conviction’s sentence and remanded for further proceedings on the theft charge.
- The homicide-by-vehicle conviction and sentence were left undisturbed.
- The court did not reach the alleged breach-of-plea-agreement and ineffective-assistance claim because the lack of factual basis resolved the theft conviction.

## Legal Principles

- Theft under Iowa Code § 714.1 is a specific-intent offense; for theft of a motor vehicle under § 714.2(2), the State must show unauthorized taking or control plus intent to permanently deprive the owner of the vehicle.
- A trial court must determine that a factual basis exists for each element of an offense before accepting a guilty plea, including an Alford plea.
- Specific intent may be proven by circumstantial evidence, but it cannot be inferred solely from unauthorized use when the surrounding circumstances do not reasonably support an intent to permanently deprive.
- Defense counsel has a duty to prevent a defendant from pleading guilty to an offense lacking a factual basis; allowing such a plea constitutes deficient performance.

## Conclusion

The court vacated the theft-related disposition because the plea record showed unauthorized, intoxicated driving but did not supply facts supporting an intent to permanently deprive the owner, a required element of theft of a motor vehicle; the case was remanded on the theft charge while the homicide-by-vehicle conviction remained in place.


State v. Schminkey, 597 N.W.2d 785 (Iowa 1999)