March 2019 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Romonda Belcher, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (3 pages)

            A father appeals the termination of his parental rights to his minor child pursuant to Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(b), (e), and (h) (2018).  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the termination of the father’s parental rights. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Chickasaw County, David F. Staudt, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (4 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her minor child.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the termination of the mother’s parental rights.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Susan Cox, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, P.J.  (5 pages)

            A father appeals the termination of his parental rights to his child.  OPINION HOLDS: The father has no standing to assert the child could be returned to the custody of the mother in order to avoid termination of his own parental rights.  Termination of the father’s parental rights is in the child’s best interests.  Accordingly, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Lynn Poschner, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Tabor and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, J.  (7 pages)

            A father appeals a juvenile court order terminating his parental rights.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the State established a ground for termination by clear and convincing evidence, no exception to termination applies, and termination is in the child’s best interest.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Page County, Amy L. Zacharias, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by McDonald, J.  (9 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights in her child.  OPINION HOLDS:  The child could not be returned to the mother’s care at the time of termination.  She did not receive ineffective assistance of counsel because she cannot establish prejudice from the alleged breach.  Her right to equal protection was not violated because she was treated equally to those similarly situated to her.  Termination is in the child’s best interest and the need for removal would likely remain at the end of an additional six-month period.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Mahaska County, Rose Anne Mefford, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vogel, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Vogel, C.J.  (4 pages)

            The mother appeals the district court’s ruling denying her motion for a continuance and the district court’s order closing the child-in-need-of-assistance case.  First, the mother argues the district court should have granted her motion to continue.  Second, the mother asserts the district court was required to make a best-interests-of-the-children determination prior to closing the case, and had it made such determination, it would have found closing the case was improper.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm by memorandum opinion pursuant to Iowa Court Rule 21.26(1)(e). 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Humboldt County, Angela L. Doyle, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Tabor and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, J.  (7 pages)

            A mother appeals the juvenile court decision terminating her parental rights.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the termination of the mother’s parental rights is supported by clear and convincing evidence, no exception to termination should be applied, it would not be in the child’s best interests to give the mother additional time, and the State did not fail to engage in reasonable efforts.  We affirm the decision of the juvenile court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Barbara H. Liesveld, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by McDonald, J.  (9 pages)

            A father appeals the termination of his parental rights in his child.  OPINION HOLDS: There is sufficient evidence supporting the statutory grounds authorizing the termination of his parental rights.  Termination of his parental rights is in the child’s best interest.  The parent-child bond does not preclude termination.  The father should not be granted an additional six months to work toward reunification.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Mary Jane Sokolovske, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, J.  (6 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her child.  OPINION HOLDS: Because returning the child to the mother’s care would place the child at risk of an adjudicatory harm, the grounds for termination pursuant to Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(h) (2017) have been proved by clear and convincing evidence.  We decline to grant the mother an additional six months to have the child returned to her care.