2018 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clinton County, Mark R. Lawson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, J.  (8 pages)

            In this interlocutory appeal, the defendants argue the district court erred in denying their motion for summary judgment.  OPINION HOLDS: I. Because the defendants failed to show that the plaintiffs reasonably should have known of the existence of their breach-of-trust claim based on an accounting or report they provided to the plaintiffs, we affirm the order denying summary judgment on the grounds the plaintiffs’ claim violates the statute of limitations found in Iowa Code section 633A.4504 (2017).  II. The defendants are not entitled to summary judgment on the merits because they failed to show that their interpretation of the trust document is correct as a matter of law.

           Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Michael D. Huppert, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Bower and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Potterfield, P.J. (15 pages)

           Dawn Christenson appeals from the district court’s denial of her petition to modify provisions of the decree dissolving her marriage to Chad Christenson.  Dawn asked the district court to modify the decree to give her sole legal custody and physical care of the parties’ minor child; she also asked the court to modify the child-support obligation accordingly.  On appeal, Dawn challenges the district court’s denial of her motion for default judgment.  Alternatively, she argues the court should have granted her application for modification on the merits because a substantial change in circumstances warranting modification exists and modification is in the minor child’s best interests.  OPINION HOLDS: As the district court is bound to reach custody determinations based upon the best interests of the child at issue, we cannot say the court abused its discretion when it denied Dawn’s application for default judgment.  In considering the merits of the application for modification, we find Dawn established a substantial change in circumstances exists, but we cannot say she is better able to minister to A.C.’s well-being.  Thus, we affirm the district court’s denial of her application for modification.

            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 McDonald, J.  (4 pages)

            Defendant Kenneth Shadlow appeals his sentence for failure to comply with the sex offender registry.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm Shadlow’s conviction and sentence.

           Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Peter A. Keller, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Bower and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by McDonald, J.  (7 pages)

           Lori Fesitner appeals the order establishing an involuntary guardianship and conservatorship.  OPINION HOLDS: The petitioner provided insufficient evidence to justify the establishment of a guardianship or conservatorship.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Sac County, Joseph B. McCarville, District Associate Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.  Considered by Danilson, C.J., and Vogel and Tabor, JJ.  Opinion by Danilson, C.J.  (16 pages)

            A mother appeals from the district court order denying her petition to terminate the parental rights of the father their two children.  OPINION HOLDS: Because there is clear and convincing evidence the father abandoned his children, as that term is used in Iowa Code sections 600A.2(19) and 600A.8(3)(b) (2017); because the mother did not prevent the father from visiting or communicating with the children; and because termination is in the children’s best interests, we reverse the district court and remand with instructions to enter an order terminating the father’s parental rights.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Paul D. Scott, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, J.  (12 pages)

            Jared Rohde appeals from the district court’s modification of the decree dissolving his marriage to Kelly Rohde.  Jared challenges the court’s failure to include the extraordinary visitation credit in calculating his child support obligation as required under the Child Support Guidelines.  He also asserts the district court should not have awarded Kelly any trial attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: After reviewing the record, and considered the unique custody issues in this case, the disparity in incomes of the parties, and Jared’s testimony, we find it was equitable not to apply the extraordinary credit to Jared’s child support obligation.  Jared has failed to show the court’s trial attorney fee award was an abuse of its discretion.  We affirm the district court’s order.  Any costs on appeal are assessed equally.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Paul D. Miller, Chad A. Kepros, and Lars G. Anderson, Judges.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Danilson, C.J., and Vogel and Tabor, JJ.  Opinion by Danilson, C.J., J.  (5 pages)

            Joshua Mitchell appeals from the denial of his motion to reinstate his second postconviction-relief (PCR) application, asserting PCR counsel was ineffective.  OPINION HOLDS: Because our confidence in the outcome has been undermined by the alleged shortcomings of Mitchell’s PCR counsel, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Muscatine County, Thomas G. Reidel, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Bower and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by McDonald, J.  (9 pages)

            A mother, Robyn Brown, appeals from a decree establishing paternity, custody, and support of her child.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the establishment of paternity in Layne Irwin.  We modify the district court's award of joint physical care and award physical care to Brown and liberal visitation to Irwin.  We award Brown child support and attorney's fees.  We remand to the district court to calculate child support and determine a visitation schedule.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, Colleen D. Weiland, James M. Drew, Gregg R. Rosenbladt, and Rustin T. Davenport, Judges.  CONDITIONALLY AFFIRMED AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.  Considered by Danilson, C.J., and Vogel and Tabor, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (12 pages)

            Jason Bendickson appeals from two convictions asserting he is actually innocent despite pleading guilty and, citing the intervening decision in Schmidt v. State, 909 N.W.2d 778, 789 (Iowa 2018), asks the court to remand for the district court to address his claim.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the district court found only that his guilty plea was knowing and voluntary and because Schmidt held defendants can assert a claim of actual innocence that is extrinsic to the plea, we agree a remand is appropriate.  We conditionally affirm Bendickson’s convictions and remand for a hearing on his freestanding claim of actual innocence. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Eliza J. Ovrom, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Bower and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, J.  (7 pages)

            M.B. appeals the district court decision finding him to be seriously mentally impaired.  OPINION HOLDS:  We find there is sufficient evidence in the record to show M.B. lacks sufficient judgment to make responsible decisions with respect to his treatment and is likely, if allowed to remain at liberty, to inflict physical injury on himself or others.  We affirm the decision of the district court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, DeDra L. Schroeder, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Danilson, C.J., and Vogel and Tabor, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (8 pages)

            A biological father appeals the juvenile court decision terminating his parental rights in a private termination action.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude the juvenile court properly determined the father abandoned the child.  The biological father only met the child once and had provided no support other than one Christmas present.  We also conclude termination of the father’s parental rights was in the child’s best interests.  We affirm the decision of the juvenile court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Carol S. Egly, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Bower and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, J.  (4 pages)

            Xavier Ashby Logan appeals his conviction for assault causing bodily injury.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the district court did not abuse its discretion in its pronouncement of judgment and sentence.