The Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed a ruling regarding a Washington case. Terrance Allen appealed his guilty plea of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, alleging his counsel’s performance fell below constitutional standards. The opinion holds because Allen failed to show the counsel’s alleged errors and he would have rejected the State’s plea offer and insisted on going to trial.

The case stems from an incident on June 9, 2011, when Allen was sitting on a bench in Washington’s Central Park and a deputy informed Allen he had an outstanding warrant for his arrest. Allen took off running and was caught by officers in a residential backyard. Approximately 15 feet from where Allen stopped, an officer found 10 individual baggies of marijuana held in one large plastic bag discard in a bush in the corner of the yard.