Court of Appeals Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Scott J. Beattie, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Tabor and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (17 pages)

            A defendant appeals his convictions for attempted murder, intimidation with a dangerous weapon, and willful injury causing serious injury.  He contests the weight of the evidence supporting his convictions.  He also renews his hearsay objections to the admission of his phone conversation with his sister and the recorded statements of the severed defendants.  In another evidentiary challenge, he urges that the district court abused its discretion in allowing expert testimony from a police detective.  Lastly, he argues the court abused its discretion in failing to remove a crying juror.  OPINION HOLDS: After a careful review of the defendant’s claims, we find no grounds to grant a new trial and affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, Amy M. Moore, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (8 pages)

            Atiba Spellman appeals the grant of summary judgment and dismissal of his application for postconviction relief (PCR).  Spellman contends the court should not have granted the State’s motion for summary judgment and dismiss his application for PCR and his PCR counsel was ineffective for failing to “timely depose trial counsel.”  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Kevin McKeever, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Greer, J., and Vogel, S.J.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (4 pages)

            A defendant appeals the sentence imposed following his conviction for failure to register as a sex offender, second or subsequent offense.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the sentence imposed by the district court was the product of the parties’ agreement, the court did not need to provide additional reasons for the sentence.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Ian K. Thornhill, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., Buller, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Opinion by Potterfield, S.J.  (11 pages)

            Stechcon appeals his convictions of willful injury causing bodily injury and false imprisonment, arguing (1) the district court should have granted his motion for mistrial after one of the State’s witnesses violated the court’s ruling on the motion in limine prohibiting witnesses from referencing that Stechcon had been in legal trouble before and “would spend seventeen more years locked up” and (2) the court erred in giving a jury instruction on general intent because it was not applicable to any of the charged offenses.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion for mistrial and any alleged error in providing the general-intent instruction was harmless.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Boone County, Christopher C. Polking, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (8 pages)

            Tommy Gene Collins appeals his convictions for sexual abuse in the second degree, sexual abuse in the third degree, and continuous sexual abuse of a child, arguing the district court improperly excluded evidence that he offered to be interviewed by law enforcement and that the district court should have required the State to provide specifics of the alleged acts supporting each charge.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the district court did not abuse its discretion when it excluded evidence that Collins offered to be interviewed by law enforcement, Collins did not present an issue for our review regarding his request for specificity, and Collins received a fair trial, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Christine Dalton, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (7 pages)

            Tommy Quinn Jr. appeals his conviction of assault causing bodily injury, alleging his waiver of counsel was not knowing and intelligent as required under the Sixth Amendment.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the court engaged in a meaningful colloquy with Quinn regarding his desire to waive counsel, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, James S. Heckerman, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED ON APPEAL; AFFIRMED ON CROSS-APPEAL.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Schumacher and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (14 pages)

            Clinton Fichter appeals the economic provisions of the parties’ dissolution decree and Monica Fichter cross-appeals on the issue of spousal support.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the decree on the issues of property division, child support, and spousal support.  We eliminate the requirement on future modifications by Clinton concerning his income.  And we deny Monica’s request for appellate attorney fees.  Accordingly, we affirm the appeal as modified and affirm on the cross-appeal.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Kimberly K. Shepherd, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (8 pages)

            The defendant challenges the admission of prior-bad-acts evidence in his trial for domestic abuse assault causing bodily injury.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding no abuse of discretion in the district court’s admission of the prior-bad-acts evidence, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Boone County, Bethany Currie, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (7 pages)

            Heather Swanson appeals the district court’s denial of her application for postconviction relief, claiming her trial counsel was ineffective by failing to move for dismissal based on a speedy-indictment violation and by failing to pursue a claim of law enforcement bias.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Scott D. Rosenberg, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Danilson, S.J.  Opinion by Schumacher, P.J. (6 pages)

            Defendant appeals his conviction for first-degree murder, arguing the State failed to present sufficient evidence to show that he acted with malice aforethought.  OPINION HOLDS: Because there was substantial evidence presented for a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt the defendant acted with malice aforethought, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, William P. Kelly, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Schumacher and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J. (5 pages)

            A defendant appeals her sentence following her guilty plea.  She claims the district court abused its discretion by failing to adequately consider mitigating sentencing factors.  OPINION HOLDS: A review of the record reveals that the district court did consider the mitigating factors highlighted by the defendant.  The district court thoroughly and thoughtfully considered and weighed relevant factors to arrive at a reasonable sentencing decision and did not abuse its discretion when doing so.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Mark Fowler, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Chicchelly, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Buller, J., takes no part.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (4 pages)

            Troy Williams appeals the order granting summary dismissal of his second application for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the Iowa Supreme Court affirmed the denial of Williams’s first PCR application on the merits, Williams is precluded from relitigating those claims here.  His PCR counsel was not ineffective by failing to raise a meritless claim.  We therefore affirm.