2018 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Robert J. Blink, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Danilson, C.J., and Potterfield and Doyle, JJ.  Opinion by Danilson, C.J.  (6 pages)

            Joseph Bright appeals from his conviction for indecent exposure, in violation of Iowa Code section 709.9 (2016), following a jury trial.  He challenges the sufficiency of the evidence that his exposure of his erect penis was done with the specific intent to arouse or satisfy his sexual desire.  He also asserts trial counsel was ineffective in failing to object to the admission of the video recording of Bright’s statements to police.  OPINION HOLDS:  We find substantial evidence supports the conviction, and we preserve Bright’s ineffectiveness claim for possible postconviction proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cass County, Richard H. Davidson and Gregory W. Steensland, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (3 pages)

            Douglas Cook appeals his convictions for two counts of second-degree sexual abuse and one count of disseminating or exhibiting obscene material to a minor, contending the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion to sever the charges.  OPINION HOLDS: We discern no abuse of discretion in the court’s application of the law and its denial of Cook’s severance motion.  We affirm his judgment and sentence.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Washington County, Crystal S. Cronk, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vogel, P.J., McDonald, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by McDonald, J.  (3 pages)

            Defendant Mohamed Elamin appeals his conviction of possession of a controlled substance.  OPINION HOLDS: Elamin’s right to speedy indictment was not violated, and the district court did not err in denying his motion to dismiss. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Duane E. Hoffmeyer, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Danilson, C.J., and Vogel and Tabor, JJ.  Opinion by Danilson, C.J.  (7 pages)

            Susana Rodriguez appeals from an adverse judgment in her personal-injury suit against Cynthia Spenner, contending the trial court erred in instructing the jury and in denying her motion for new trial.  OPINION HOLDS: The court did not commit reversible error in instructing the jury as to a preexisting condition because there was factual support for the instruction.  Nor did the court abuse its discretion in denying the motion for new trial.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, John D. Ackerman, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, J.  (17 pages)

            Melvin Spencer appeals his conviction following a jury trial for attempted murder.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review of the record, we do not find the district court abused its discretion when it ruled the evidence relating to the baggie of cocaine found at the scene was admissible because it was relevant, admissible for a non-character purpose, and more probative than prejudicial.  Nevertheless, even if the district court abused its discretion, the error was harmless under the facts of the case and does not warrant reversal.  Finally, we preserve for possible postconviction-relief proceedings Spencer’s ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims.  Accordingly, we affirm Spencer’s conviction and sentence.

           Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Casey D. Jones, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED ON CONDITION AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (5 pages)

           Lundell Buchanan appeals multiple criminal convictions following a jury trial.  He contends the racial composition of the jury pool violated his constitutional right to a jury drawn from a fair cross-section of the community.  He also argues the district court abused its discretion in denying his morning-of-trial request for new counsel on the basis that he previously alleged his defense counsel rendered ineffective assistance in a prior representation and his attorney was ineffective in failing to discover this circumstance sooner.  OPINION HOLDS: We deem Buchanan’s argument that the district court abused its discretion in denying his request for new counsel waived and conclude trial counsel was not ineffective as alleged.  However, we conclude the district court should have granted Buchanan’s request to further investigate the racial composition of the jury pool.  As such, we conditionally affirm Buchanan’s convictions and remand the matter to the district court for development of the record on the challenge to the composition of the jury.  Following development of the record, we direct the district court to determine whether Buchanan’s constitutional right to a representative jury was violated.  If so, the court shall grant a new trial.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Andrew B. Chappell, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (6 pages)

            Travis Hoppe appeals from the district court’s denial of his application for postconviction relief.  He contends (1) plea counsel was ineffective, (2) postconviction counsel was ineffective, and (3) the postconviction court erred by denying his motion for a continuance.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude (1) plea counsel did not breach an essential duty in failing to challenge the value element of first-degree theft, (2) Hoppe was not prejudiced by postconviction counsel’s failure to obtain a foundation witness for proposed evidence, and (3) the district court’s denial of Hoppe’s continuance motion was not an abuse of discretion.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Marlita A. Greve, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Danilson, C.J., and Vogel and Tabor, JJ.  Opinion by Vogel, J.  (9 pages)

            Jon Dieckmann appeals his conviction and sentence for attempted burglary in the second degree and possession of burglar’s tools.  He argues his counsel was ineffective on several grounds and the district court improperly assessed appellate attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: We find his counsel was not ineffective for failing to challenge the sufficiency of the evidence, we preserve his other ineffective-assistance claims, and we find the court did not err in addressing appellate attorney fees. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cass County, Jeffrey L. Larson, Judge.  CONVICTION CONDITIONALLY AFFIRMED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Bower and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by McDonald, J.  (15 pages)

            Patrick Barrett Jr. appeals his conviction of sexual abuse in the second degree.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court abused its discretion in denying Barrett’s discovery request for the victim’s mental-health and counseling records.  The district court did not abuse its discretion when denying Barrett’s motion for new trial.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Mark D. Cleve, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Vogel, P.J., and Vaitheswaran and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Vogel, P.J.  (13 pages)

            Isai Sanchez-Casco appeals his conviction for operating while intoxicated (OWI), third offense.  He argues the district court abused its discretion in allowing expert testimony on intoxication, and he appeals the denials of his motion for judgment of acquittal and motion for new trial.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the State presented an adequate foundation for the expert testimony.  We also find the verdict is supported by substantial evidence and the court did not abuse its discretion in denying his motion for new trial.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Nancy S. Tabor and Mark J. Smith, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Doyle, J., and Mahan, S.J.  Tabor, J., takes no part.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (4 pages)

            Austin Keller appeals from his conviction for theft in the second degree, claiming the district court imposed “a greater sentence than agreed to in the plea agreement without giving [him] the opportunity to withdraw the plea.”  OPINION HOLDS: Having concluded Keller was not entitled to withdraw his plea, we further conclude his attorney was not ineffective in failing to object on this ground.  We affirm Keller’s judgment and sentence.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Bremer County, Peter B. Newell, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Bower,J.  (8 pages)

            Drew Johnson appeals his conviction for domestic abuse assault causing bodily injury, enhanced.  OPINION HOLDS:  We find there is substantial evidence in the record to support the jury’s verdict in this case.  We affirm Johnson’s conviction for domestic abuse assault, but due to insufficiencies in the colloquy where he stipulated to a prior conviction, we reverse the determination this was a second offense and remand for further proceedings.  In making this determination, we also vacate Johnson’s sentence for domestic abuse assault, enhanced.  On remand, upon the conclusion of proceedings concerning the prior conviction, Johnson should be resentenced.