2018 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

           Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Plymouth County, Robert J. Dull, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, J. (8 pages)

           J.R. appeals from the order denying her motion for summary judgment on her conversion claim and granting dismissal in favor of defendants.  OPINION HOLDS: Neither party has established entitlement to dismissal or summary judgment on the conversion claim.  Reading the petition in the light most favorable to J.R., we cannot conclude her claim could not be sustained under any state of facts provable under the petition.  Dismissal was not appropriate.  On the other hand, the facts presented establish, at least minimally, the existence of a disputed material fact regarding the conversion claim.  Summary judgment was not appropriate.  We reverse the district court order granting defendants’ motion to dismiss, affirm the denial of J.R.’s motion for summary judgment, and remand for further proceedings. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Benton County, Chad A. Kepros and Christopher L. Bruns, Judges.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J. (6 pages)

            Chad Stechcon appeals the district court’s summary dismissal of his application for postconviction relief as time-barred, seeking to circumvent the time bar by arguing his “court-appointed postconviction relief counsel was ineffective in failing to file his application for postconviction relief in a timely fashion.”  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude postconviction counsel breached an essential duty and the failure amounted to structural error.  We reverse and remand for adjudication of the merits of Stechon’s untimely filed postconviction-relief application. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Sean W. McPartland, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vogel, P.J., and Doyle and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, J.  (7 pages)

            Antonio Smith appeals from the district court’s order granting summary judgment and dismissing his negligence and spoliation claims.  OPINION HOLDS:  We find the contractual limitation of liability provision is clear, unambiguous, unequivocal, and enforceable.  The district court correctly dismissed the claims. 

           Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Allamakee County, Margaret L. Lingreen, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Bower and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Potterfield, P.J.  (10 pages)

           James Leiran appeals the district court’s denial of his petition to modify the physical-care determination regarding the three children he shares with Jeaneen Kleppe.  The district court found James established a material and substantial change in circumstances since the entry of the original decree but determined he had failed to establish that he could provide the children with care superior to that provided by Jeaneen.  OPINION HOLDS: We understand James’s concern regarding Jeaneen’s fiancé, but under these circumstances, we cannot say James established that he can provide the children superior care.  We affirm the district court’s denial of James’s petition to modify the physical-care arrangement.

           Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Wayne County, Dustria A. Relph, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vogel, P.J., Doyle, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Blane, S.J. (10 pages)

           Plaintiff Jim Jamison d/b/a J & S Ag Services appeals from the district court’s grant of defendants Darrell and Wendy Coddington’s motion for summary judgment.  OPINION HOLDS: After our review of the record in this case, we find the district court properly found no dispute of material fact, correctly applied the law, and did not err in granting the Coddingtons’ motion for summary judgment.

           Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Warren County, Kevin A. Parker, District Associate Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Potterfield and Tabor, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J. (13 pages)

Derek Mills appeals his conviction for criminal mischief in the fourth degree.  He argues the district court erred in allowing five prosecution exhibits into evidence over his authentication and hearsay objections.  Alternatively, he argues he received ineffective assistance of counsel when his attorney failed to object to other evidence the State offered.  OPINION HOLDS: Because three of the challenged exhibits were improperly admitted, and their admission was not harmless, we reverse the conviction and remand for a new trial.  We do not reach Mills’s claims concerning effectiveness of trial counsel.

           Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Karen A. Romano and David N. May, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Bower and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, J. (7 pages)

           Kham Khoang appeals the denial of his motion to suppress and subsequent conviction, claiming the interrogation violated his due process rights.  OPINION HOLDS:  We find the motion to suppress was properly denied and there is no constitutional right to a recorded interrogation.

           Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Russell G. Keast, Nicholas L. Scott, and Casey D. Jones, District Associate Judges.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Danilson, C.J., and Vogel and Tabor, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  Partial Dissent by Vogel, J.  (12 pages)

           Jerald Frost appeals the district court’s denial of a motion to suppress evidence prior to a guilty verdict for possession of methamphetamine.  He argues police violated his constitutional protection against unreasonable search and seizure when they removed and opened several closed containers discovered in his pocket during a patdown search.  OPINION HOLDS: The record shows police did not seize Frost and Frost voluntarily consented to a patdown search.  During the patdown search, police exceeded the scope of Frost’s consent by searching inside his pocket, removing the containers, and opening them.  Because the search of the pocket and containers was impermissible, the resulting evidence should have been suppressed.  We reverse the district court’s judgment of conviction and remand for a new trial in which the impermissible evidence is excluded.  PARTIAL DISSENT ASSERTS: I believe the record reveals that Frost consented to the search of his person.

           Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Jeffrey L. Poulson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Bower and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, J. (10 pages)

           Jimmy Lesline appeals the custody, child-support, and division-of-assets determinations of a decree of dissolution.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the physical care, child support, and economic provisions of the dissolution decree.  We deny the requests for appellate attorney fees.

           Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Sioux County, Robert J. Dull, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Danilson, C.J., and Mullins and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by McDonald, J. (5 pages)

            Cody Logan appeals his conviction for possession of marijuana, second offense.  He argues a search warrant was not supported by probable cause.  OPINION HOLDS: Viewing the totality of the circumstances, we conclude the warrant was supported by probable cause.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Mary J. Sokolovske, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Bower and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by McDonald, J.  (3 pages)

            A father appeals the private termination of his parental rights in his five children.  OPINION HOLDS: Termination of the father’s rights is appropriate because he sexually abused three of the children, has had no contact with the children for several years, and is serving a life sentence.

           Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Joel A. Dalrymple, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J. (6 pages)

           Patrick Sumerall appeals the sentences imposed upon his guilty pleas to conspiracy to commit a forcible felony and carrying weapons, contending the district court considered impermissible sentencing factors.  OPINION HOLDS:  The sentences imposed by the district court were based on valid and permissible considerations.  We affirm.