August 2018 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

           Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Des Moines County, John G. Linn, Judge. AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Potterfield and Tabor, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J. (5 pages)

           D.B. appeals a district court’s civil commitment order.  He argues the State failed to demonstrate he would physically injure himself or others if allowed to remain at liberty.  OPINION HOLDS: Substantial evidence was presented supporting the district court’s finding of serious mental impairment.  We affirm the civil commitment order.

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Hancock County, Rustin T. Davenport, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Danilson, C.J., Tabor, J., and Scott, S.J.  Opinion by Scott, S.J. (3 pages)

           Marvella Harms appeals the sentence imposed upon her conviction of second-degree arson, contending the district court abused its discretion in sentencing her to a term of incarceration.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding no abuse of discretion, we affirm Harms’s sentence.

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, John J. Haney, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Potterfield and Tabor, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J. (8 pages)

           Abby Anderson appeals, and Michael Anderson cross-appeals, from the decree dissolving their marriage.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s thorough and well-reasoned decree in its entirety. 

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Barbara H. Liesveld, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, J. (5 pages)

           A mother and a father separately appeal the termination of their parental rights to their child.  OPINION HOLDS: The grounds for termination under Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(h) (2017) have been satisfied because clear and convincing evidence shows the court could not return the child to either parent’s care at the time of the termination hearing without exposing the child to harm that would lead to a child-in-need-of-assistance adjudication.  Because termination is in the child’s best interests and application of any of the exceptions to the termination statute is not, we affirm on both appeals.

           Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Romonda D. Belcher, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J. (5 pages)

           A father appeals the termination of his parental rights to his minor child, contending termination is not in the child’s best interests.  OPINION HOLDS: We agree with the juvenile court that termination is in the child’s best interests.  We affirm the termination of the father’s parental rights. 

           Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Mary L. Timko, Associate Juvenile Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Bower and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, J. (5 pages)

           A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights.  OPINION HOLDS:  We find there is substantial evidence in the record to support termination of the mother’s parental rights.  We conclude termination of the mother’s parental rights is in the child’s best interests.  We affirm the decision of the juvenile court.

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Susan Cox, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Potterfield and Tabor, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J. (7 pages)

           A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her child, born in 2008.  She contends (1) the record lacks clear and convincing evidence the child could not be returned to her custody; (2) termination was not in the child’s best interests; (3) termination was inappropriate, given the child’s preferences and objection to termination and the closeness of the parent-child bond; and (4) the court should have placed the child in a guardianship in lieu of terminating her parental rights.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the termination of the mother’s parental rights to her child.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Mary L. McCollum Timko, Associate Juvenile Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Danilson, C.J., and Mullins and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Danilson, C.J.  (7 pages)

            A mother appeals from the termination of her parental rights to her child, A.B., pursuant to Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(b), (d), (e), (g), (h), and (l) (2018).  She does not contest the grounds for termination, but rather asserts the juvenile court made mistakes of fact and misapplied the law.  OPINION HOLDS: Based on the evidence reflecting the mother has not maintained contact with A.B. and has not demonstrated a likelihood of long-standing sobriety, we find termination of the mother’s parental rights to A.B. is in A.B.’s best interest.  We therefore affirm.

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jasper County, Steven J. Holwerda, District Associate Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Potterfield and Tabor, JJ.  Opinion by Potterfield, J. (9 pages)

           A father appeals the juvenile court order adjudicating his child a child in need of assistance.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the juvenile court’s adjudication of the child as a child in need of assistance under Iowa Code section 232.2(6)(b) and (c)(2) (2018) is not supported by clear and convincing evidence and reverse the ruling of the juvenile court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Monona County, Mark C. Cord III, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vogel, P.J., and Doyle and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, J.  (8 pages)

            A mother appeals the juvenile court’s child-in-need-of-assistance permanency order and the termination of her parental rights.  OPINION HOLDS:  We affirm the juvenile court’s permanency order and termination of the mother’s parental rights.

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Crawford County, Mary L. McCollum Timko, Associate Juvenile Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Bower and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by McDonald, J. (10 pages)

            A mother and father appeal the termination of their parental rights in their child, and the father also appeals the termination of his rights to two additional children.  OPINION HOLDS: As to the father, the district court properly terminated his parental rights due to his substance-related disorder.  As to the mother, the district court properly terminated her rights because the same issues supporting prior terminations of her older children remain, and she is unlikely to resolve the identified issues.  The district court also properly denied both parents an additional six months to work toward reunification because there is no indication that grounds for termination will no longer exist in six months’ time.

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Ida County, Patrick H. Tott, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, J. (4 pages)

A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her children.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the juvenile court did not abuse its discretion in denying the mother’s motion to continue the termination hearing and the termination hearing procedure was good enough to meet minimum due process requirements, we affirm.