State of Iowa v. Luis Avalos, 16-0767

Defendant Luis Avalos was convicted of operating while under the influence (OUI) and appealed.
Avalos argued on appeal the State failed to present substantial evidence he was under the influence or intoxicated.
Avalos conceded he did not raise a sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenge in the district court.
He invited the State to waive preservation objection; the State did not, and the court noted it would not be bound by any such concession.
Avalos did not press an ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim with supporting argument or authority; the court declined to address it sua sponte.
The court affirmed the conviction without further opinion for failure to preserve the issue for appeal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether sufficiency-of-the-evidence challenge is reviewable on appeal	State: issue not preserved because it was not raised below	Avalos: claims evidence was insufficient; invited State to waive preservation	Court: not preserved; affirm without opinion
Whether appellate court should review on ineffective-assistance grounds	State: not raised; preservation rules apply	Avalos: suggested court could reach prejudice/ineffective-assistance but offered no supporting argument or authority	Court: declined to consider ineffective-assistance claim for lack of developed argument and preservation; refused to act as counsel

Metz v. Amoco Oil Co., 581 N.W.2d 597 (Iowa 1998) (issue must be presented to and passed upon by the district court to be raised on appeal)
State v. Fountain, 786 N.W.2d 260 (Iowa 2010) (ineffective-assistance claims are an exception to ordinary preservation rules)
State v. Bergmann, 633 N.W.2d 328 (Iowa 2001) (appellate court not bound by State's concession on preservation)
Top of Iowa Co-op v. Sime Farms, Inc., 608 N.W.2d 454 (Iowa 2000) (appellate court may consider preservation despite opposing party's omission)
State v. Coleman, 890 N.W.2d 284 (Iowa 2017) (courts will not assume the role of counsel; judges are not partisan advocates)
Hyler v. Garner, 548 N.W.2d 864 (Iowa 1996) (principle cited regarding judicial role and counsel's responsibilities)