Filed Jan 09, 2019
View Opinion No. 17-2007
View Summary for Case No. 17-2007
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Odell G. McGhee II, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ. Opinion by Mullins, J. (6 pages)
Donovan Edwards appeals his criminal conviction, contending the district court abused its discretion in denying his motion for a new trial because the jury verdict was contrary to the weight of the evidence. OPINION HOLDS: We are unable to say the evidence preponderates heavily against the jury’s finding of guilt. We therefore conclude the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Edwards’s motion for a new trial on weight-of-the-evidence grounds. We affirm Edwards’s conviction.
Filed Jan 09, 2019
View Opinion No. 17-2070
View Summary for Case No. 17-2070
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Buchanan County, George L. Stigler, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ. Opinion by Tabor, P.J. (7 pages)
David Uchytil appeals his conviction for domestic abuse assault causing bodily injury, claiming trial counsel was ineffective for failing to seek recusal by the trial judge for “overintervention” in the parties’ presentation of the case. OPINION HOLDS: Finding the record inadequate to resolve this allegation on direct appeal, we affirm Uchytil’s conviction but preserve his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim for possible postconviction-relief proceedings.
Filed Jan 09, 2019
View Opinion No. 17-2102
View Summary for Case No. 17-2102
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Wapello County, Randy S. DeGeest, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Bower and McDonald, JJ. Opinion by Potterfield, P.J. (7 pages)
Terry Baker appeals from the modification of the spousal support provisions of the decree dissolving his marriage to Mary Baker. OPINION HOLDS: Because we find the modification of spousal support is equitable and based upon substantial changes of circumstances, we affirm.
Filed Jan 09, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-0059
View Summary for Case No. 18-0059
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Bradley J. Harris, Judge. SENTENCES VACATED AND REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING. Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ. Opinion by Bower, J. (7 pages)
Connell Lamb appeals his sentences for child endangerment and domestic abuse assault causing bodily injury. OPINION HOLDS: We find the State breached the plea agreement in its sentencing recommendation and Lamb’s counsel was ineffective in failing to object to the breach. We vacate Lamb’s sentences and remand for resentencing before another judge.
Filed Jan 09, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-0070
View Summary for Case No. 18-0070
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Jon Telleen and Mark J. Smith, Judges. VACATED IN PART AND REMANDED. Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ. Opinion by Bower, J. (7 pages)
Kamesha Houston appeals her conviction and sentence for possession of marijuana and carrying weapons. OPINION HOLDS: We find the court applied her guilty plea to the wrong carrying-weapons count and vacate that conviction. We remand for further proceedings.
Filed Jan 09, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-0160
View Summary for Case No. 18-0160
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Hancock County, Gregg R. Rosenbladt, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Potterfield, P.J., Doyle, J., and Danilson, S.J. Opinion by Potterfield, P.J. (6 pages)
Shane Jacobs appeals from his sentences for willful injury causing bodily injury and domestic abuse assault by impeding airflow—both class “D” felonies. He maintains the sentencing court abused its discretion by placing more weight on negative factors and failing to consider properly the mitigating factors. OPINION HOLDS: Jacobs has not established the sentencing court considered an inappropriate factor. And although the court did not give the same weight to the factors that Jacobs emphasizes, the sentence imposed by the court was not based on grounds or for reasons clearly untenable, nor was its choice clearly unreasonable under the circumstances. Thus, we affirm the sentence imposed by the district court.
Filed Jan 09, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-0244
View Summary for Case No. 18-0244
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Joel W. Barrows, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Potterfield, P.J., Doyle, J., and Mahan, S.J. Opinion by Doyle, J. (3 pages)
Jerrel Williams appeals his conviction for possession with intent to deliver crack cocaine. OPINION HOLDS: Substantial circumstantial evidence supports a finding that Williams had been in possession of the crack cocaine discovered on the floor of an apartment next to where Williams had been sitting. Because sufficient evidence supports his conviction, we affirm.
Filed Jan 09, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-0266
View Summary for Case No. 18-0266
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Floyd County, Christopher C. Foy, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Potterfield, P.J., Doyle, J., and Danilson, S.J. Opinion by Potterfield, P.J. (25 pages)
Donald McIntyre appeals his conviction for robbery in the first degree. He maintains (1) trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to object to hearsay statements, to the admission of shoeprint evidence, to instances of prosecutorial misconduct, and to the definition of “armed” in a jury instruction; (2) the court erred in including language pertaining to a knife in the dangerous-weapon instruction; and (3) the trial court should have granted his motions for judgment of acquittal and for new trial based on the weight of the evidence. OPINION HOLDS: McIntyre did not establish his claims for ineffective assistance, that there was insufficient evidence to instruct the jury the knife recovered at the scene meets the legal definition of a dangerous weapon, nor that the verdict is contrary to the weight of the evidence. Thus, we affirm. We preserve for postconviction relief his claims trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to instances of hearsay testimony and the definition of “armed” within a jury instruction.
Filed Jan 09, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-0329
View Summary for Case No. 18-0329
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Chad A. Kepros, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Potterfield, P.J., Doyle, J., and Danilson, S.J. Opinion by Potterfield, P.J. (4 pages)
Douglas Smith asserts his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by allowing Smith to plead guilty to operating while intoxicated, third or subsequent offense, without a factual basis to support the plea. OPINION HOLDS: The evidence in the record establishes a factual basis to support Smith’s guilty plea for operating a vehicle while intoxicated, third or subsequent offense. Smith’s claim of ineffective assistance fails, and we affirm.
Filed Jan 09, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-0367
View Summary for Case No. 18-0367
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeffrey D. Farrell, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Potterfield, P.J., Doyle, J., and Scott, S.J. Opinion by Doyle, J. (4 pages)
Dylan Millard appeals the five-year sentence imposed on his conviction for possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, arguing the district court abused its discretion in denying his request for a suspended sentence and probation. OPINION HOLDS: Substantial evidence supports the sentence imposed by the district court, and the court properly applied the law in imposing it. Accordingly, the district court acted within its discretion in imposing Millard’s sentence, and we affirm.
Filed Jan 09, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-0440
View Summary for Case No. 18-0440
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Kellyann M. Lekar and Bradley J. Harris, Judges. AFFIRMED. Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ. Opinion by Bower, J. (8 pages)
Monte Apfel appeals his convictions for five drug charges. OPINION HOLDS: We find the traffic stop, investigation, dog sniff, and search did not violate Apfel’s constitutional rights. We affirm the district court’s denial of Apfel’s motion to suppress.
Filed Jan 09, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-0473
View Summary for Case No. 18-0473
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Henry W. Latham, II, Judge. REVERSED AND REMANDED. Considered by Vogel, P.J., and Vaitheswaran and McDonald, JJ. Opinion by Vaitheswaran, J. (6 pages)
In this interlocutory appeal, Great Southern Bancorp, Inc., d/b/a Great Southern Bank (“Great Southern”) challenges the district court’s denial of its pre-answer motion to dismiss Judith and Mark Buckner’s personal injury action for failure to serve process. OPINION HOLDS: We conclude the order extending the time for service was not supported by good cause, and because the extension order was unsupported by good cause, it could not serve as the basis for denying Great Southern’s motion to dismiss. We therefore reverse the order denying Great Southern’s motion to dismiss and remand for dismissal of the petition.