2018 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clay County, Carl J. Peterson, Judge.  CONVICTION AFFIRMED, SENTENCE VACATED, AND REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Potterfield, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (7 pages)

            Jerry Mosley appeals his convictions and sentence for first-degree burglary and assault causing bodily injury raising claims of insufficiency of evidence, ineffective assistance of counsel, failure to merge, and inappropriate imposition of restitution costs.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm Mosley’s conviction for first-degree burglary, preserve his ineffective-assistance claim for postconviction proceedings, and vacate his sentence, remanding for merger of the assault and burglary convictions.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dickinson County, David C. Larson, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Doyle, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Blane, S.J.  (10 pages)

            Nine years after the district court erroneously assessed Beau Tremaine Berge court costs in dismissed criminal cases, he challenged the assessment of those costs, which the district court denied.  OPINION HOLDS: On this discretionary review, because of legal precedent, Berge’s own failure to timely challenge the assessments, and his later agreement in a contempt proceeding to pay the costs, we find the district court properly denied Berge’s challenge and affirm.

           Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Kellyann M. Lekar, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Bower and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Potterfield, P.J. (13 pages)

           Tony Grider appeals the dismissal of his application for postconviction relief.  He argues his postconviction-relief counsel provided ineffective assistance in failing to ensure the district court addressed all of his claims, including claims his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find none of the claims the postconviction-relief court failed to explicitly address would have changed the outcome of Grider’s postconviction-relief application, Grider was not prejudiced by his counsel’s failure to file a rule 1.904 motion.  We find Grider's postconviction-relief counsel’s failure does not warrant relief and affirm the district court’s dismissal of his application for postconviction relief.  

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, Timothy J. Finn, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, J.  (4 pages)

            Terrion Maxfield appeals the denial of his motion to continue trial and his sentences.  OPINION HOLDS: The defendant’s guilty plea waives his challenge to the denial of his motion to continue.  Because the trial court did not consider improper factors at sentencing, it did not abuse its discretion in imposing consecutive sentences.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Buchanan County, Kellyann M. Lekar, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., Bower, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Blane, S.J.  (11 pages)

            Lowell Ewalt appeals from his conviction for possession of a controlled substance (marijuana).  He challenges the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained after the initiation of a routine traffic stop for speeding.  Ewalt maintains the officer unconstitutionally extended the duration of the stop; he also argues that he should have been told his Miranda rights before the officer asked him questions pertaining to his use of marijuana.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the extension of the duration of the stop was supported by reasonable suspicion and because Ewalt was not in custody—and Miranda requirements had not been triggered—when he made incriminating statements to Trooper Smith, Ewalt’s constitutional rights were not violated.  The district court properly denied Ewalt’s motion to suppress. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Kathleen A. Kilnoski, Judge.  AFFIRMED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Potterfield and Tabor, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (13 pages)

            Defendants appeal from the district court’s ruling on the plaintiff’s breach-of-contract action, raising a number of claims.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the judgment in favor of the plaintiff in its entirety, and we remand for a determination of an award of attorney fees incurred on appeal.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, John D. Telleen, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON THE APPEAL AND THE CROSS-APPEAL.  Heard by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, J.  (12 pages)

            Wendy Holst appeals the district court’s decision granting defendants’ motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict on the issue of future damages.  Michael Stapleton and Mansur Trucking, Inc. cross-appeal the court’s denial of the motion as to certain past medical expenses.  OPINION HOLDS:  Holst did not present sufficient medical evidence to support a claim for future pain and suffering or future loss of function or sufficient evidence to come within the exception to this requirement, and we affirm the court’s grant of judgment notwithstanding the verdict on this ground.  On the cross-appeal, we conclude the district court did not err in finding there was substantial evidence of causation, so the issue of past medical expenses should be submitted to the jury and the court did not err in denying defendants’ motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict on this ground.  We affirm on the appeal and the cross-appeal.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Paul L. Macek and Marlita A. Greve, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Danilson, C.J., Tabor, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion Per Curiam.  (23 pages)

            Kenneth Tennant appeals from his conviction and sentence for tampering with a juror.  On appeal, he alleges (1) the trial court should have granted his motion for mistrial; (2) he should have been allowed to play a specific video for the jury; (3) the court should have granted his motion for judgment of acquittal; (4) the court should have sustained his objection to various jury instructions; (5) the statute under which he was convicted is void for vagueness; (6) the statute violates his First Amendment right to free speech; (7) the trial court should have appointed him standby counsel, and (8) he was subjected to a disparate sentence.  OPINION HOLDS: After our review of the record in this appeal, we find Tennant’s appeal on each issue either has not been preserved or has no merit.  The conviction, judgment, and sentence are affirmed.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for O’Brien County, David A. Lester, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Heard by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (12 pages)

            Bradley Taylor appeals the district court’s order interpreting language in his parents’ irrevocable trusts directing the sale of farmland.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find the settlors’ intent to extend Bradley an option to purchase the land beyond the three-year rental period was plain on the face of the distribution provision, we reverse and remand for a determination of the questions posed in the trustee’s application on the sale of the farm real estate to Bradley.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, David N. May, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Danilson, C.J., and Vogel and Tabor, JJ.  Opinion by Vogel, J.  (6 pages)

            Ashley Rathjen appeals her convictions for two counts of possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine) with intent to deliver, as a subsequent offender.  She argues her trial counsel was ineffective for allowing her to plead guilty after denial of her motion to dismiss and for failing to file a motion in arrest of judgment to preserve her challenge to her guilty plea.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the record inadequate to address her claims.  Therefore, we affirm her convictions and preserve her claims for possible postconviciton proceedings.

           Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, David M. Porter, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Considered by Danilson, C.J., McDonald, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Carr, S.J.  Dissent by McDonald, J.  (11 pages)

            Steven and Stephanie DeVolder appeal the grant of summary judgment in favor of State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company and State Farm Fire & Casualty Company (collectively, State Farm).  The DeVolders claim State Farm committed breach of contract, first-party bad faith, and fraud in processing their insurance claim.  OPINION HOLDS: We agree with the district court that summary judgment is appropriate on the fraud and first-party bad faith claims.  However, we find a genuine issue of material fact regarding the breach-of-contract claim.  Therefore, we reverse on the breach claim and remand for further proceedings.  DISSENT ASSERTS: The district court correctly decided the motion for summary judgment on the record presented.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Union County, Patrick W. Greenwood, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (14 pages)

            Colton Dunphy appeals his conviction of operating while intoxicated.  He contends the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress evidence allegedly obtained in violation of his rights under Iowa Code section 804.20 (2016).  OPINION HOLDS: We find no violation of section 804.20.  We affirm Dunphy’s conviction of operating while intoxicated.