Filed May 01, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-1067
View Summary for Case No. 18-1067
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Jeffrey A. Neary, Judge. REVERSED AND REMANDED. Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Tabor and Bower, JJ. Opinion by Bower, J. (11 pages)
Defendants appeal the district court decision finding there was good cause for the failure of Robert Mrla to timely serve notice of his petition to set aside a will and petition for breach of contract to make a will. OPINION HOLDS: We find Robert was required to serve notice to the defendants. The defendants’ petition for declaratory judgment did not waive their claims regarding untimely service of process. The district court erred in finding Robert showed good cause for the delay in service. We reverse the decision of the district court and remand.
Filed May 01, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-1125
View Summary for Case No. 18-1125
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Floyd County, Christopher Foy, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Potterfield and Doyle, JJ. Opinion by Doyle, J. (5 pages)
John Lusk appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief, for the first time raising claims that his postconviction-relief counsel provided ineffective assistance. OPINION HOLDS: Lusk’s complaints concerning postconviction counsel do not rise to the level of structural error. In order to resolve questions concerning the performance of his postconviction counsel, Lusk must file a separate application for postconviction relief promptly following this appeal.
Filed May 01, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-1144
View Summary for Case No. 18-1144
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clinton County, Henry W. Latham, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Potterfield and Bower, JJ. Opinion by Bower, J. (5 pages)
Antoine Allen appeals his conviction for first-degree robbery, claiming trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to an in-court identification and failing to request an instruction on eyewitness identification. OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the conviction and preserve the ineffective-assistance claims for possible postconviction-relief proceedings.
Filed May 01, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-1170
View Summary for Case No. 18-1170
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Grundy County, Bradley J. Harris, Judge. AFFIRMED. Heard by Vogel, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Doyle, JJ. Opinion by Vogel, C.J. (9 pages)
Scott Cooper appeals the grant of summary judgment dismissing his defamation claim against defendants City of Reinbeck, Reinbeck Telecommunications Utility (RTU), and Tim Johnson. He argues the defendants are not entitled to absolute or qualified privilege on their allegedly defamatory statements contained in their letter prepared for Cooper’s unemployment proceeding and in statements to the RTU board and city council. OPINION HOLDS: Because Cooper has not shown a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the defendants acted with actual malice or otherwise abused their immunity under qualified privilege, we affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment.
Filed May 01, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-1191
View Summary for Case No. 18-1191
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Kellyann M. Lekar, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Vogel, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Doyle, JJ. Opinion by Vogel, C.J. (6 pages)
Rodney Cockhren appeals his conviction and sentence after he entered into an Alford plea for second-degree burglary. He claims his counsel was ineffective for allowing him to enter into the Alford plea despite a lack of factual basis for the plea. OPINION HOLDS: We find Cockhren may not rely on the additional minutes of evidence filed after he appealed and his counsel was not ineffective.
Filed May 01, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-1197
View Summary for Case No. 18-1197
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dallas County, Terry R. Rickers, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Doyle, P.J., Mullins, J., and Mahan, S.J. Opinion by Mahan, S.J. (3 pages)
Michael Croft Jr. appeals from his conviction for theft in the fourth degree, in violation of Iowa Code sections 714.1(1) and 714.2(4) (2018), contending there is insufficient evidence to support the jury’s finding on the element of identity. OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm.
Filed May 01, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-1270
View Summary for Case No. 18-1270
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Mahaska County, Lucy J. Gamon, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Doyle and Tabor, JJ. Opinion by Doyle, J. (4 pages)
Clarence Bryant appeals the denial of his motion to strike court costs arguing Iowa Code section 822.2(1) (2018) prohibits assessment of a filing fee on applications for postconviction relief. OPINION HOLDS: Although section 822.2(1) allows initiation of a postconviction action without requiring the applicant to first pay a filing fee, the filing fee is recoverable in the event that the PCR applicant is unsuccessful in securing relief. Accordingly, we affirm.
Filed May 01, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-1308
View Summary for Case No. 18-1308
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Davis County, Myron L. Gookin, Judge. AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED AND REMANDED. Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Tabor and Bower, JJ. Opinion by Potterfield, P.J. (11 pages)
Matthew Nevins challenges the physical-care, visitation, child-support, and attorney-fees provisions of the decree dissolving his marriage to Kelsey Nevins. Matthew maintains the parties’ children should have been placed in his physical care or, alternatively, he and Kelsey should share joint physical care. Additionally, he challenges the district court’s determination of each party’s income for the purposes of calculating child support and claims the court abused its discretion in ordering him to pay $2000 of Kelsey’s attorney fees. On appeal, Kelsey asks that we affirm the district court’s decree and award her an additional $16,982.50 in appellate attorney fees. OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s decision to place the parties’ children in Kelsey’s physical care, but we adjust the parenting-time schedule to give Matthew an additional overnight time with the children each week. As a result of the change in parenting time, we remand to the district court to determine if the extraordinary visitation credit should be applied to Matthew’s child-support obligation. We affirm the district court’s award of $2000 of attorney fees to Kelsey and award Kelsey $2000 in appellate attorney fees.
Filed May 01, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-1479
View Summary for Case No. 18-1479
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Tom Reidel, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Vogel, C.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ. Opinion by Mullins, J. (5 pages)
Cody Deneve appeals his guilty plea to possession of heroin with intent to deliver, as a habitual offender, contending he received ineffective assistance of counsel. OPINION HOLDS: We find the record inadequate to decide whether Deneve was prejudiced. We therefore affirm his conviction but preserve his ineffective-assistance claim for postconviction-relief proceedings.
Filed May 01, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-1510
View Summary for Case No. 18-1510
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Lee (South) County, Mark E. Kruse, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Tabor and Bower, JJ. Per Curiam. (7 pages)
Derek Westwater appeals his conviction for harassment in the first degree. OPINION HOLDS: We find Westwater failed to show he received ineffective assistance because defense counsel permitted him to plead guilty to a count where there was not a factual basis, as there was a sufficient factual basis for the plea. We affirm Westwater’s conviction.
Filed May 01, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-1644
View Summary for Case No. 18-1644
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Rachael E. Seymour, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Vogel, C.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ. Opinion by Bower, J. (8 pages)
G.R. appeals the juvenile court decision finding he committed the delinquent act of sexual abuse in the second degree. OPINION HOLDS: We find the court did not abuse its discretion in denying G.R.’s request for a consent decree or in determining G.R. should be required to register as a sex offender. We affirm the decision of the juvenile court.
Filed May 01, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-1690
View Summary for Case No. 18-1690
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Hardin County, James C. Ellefson, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Tabor and Bower, JJ. Opinion by Potterfield, P.J. (10 pages)
Nicole Seward appeals the modification of the visitation and child support provisions of her dissolution decree with Adam Seward. She argues the district court improperly acted sua sponte by modifying the visitation provision and the child support provision of the decree because Adam’s petition for modification only requested modification of the physical care provision. In the event the court acted properly, Nicole argues Adam failed to show a change in circumstance warranting modification of the visitation provision. She also claims the district court erred in denying her request for attorney fees. OPINION HOLDS: The parties were aware visitation and child support were at issue as evidenced by their trial testimony. As a result, the court’s modification of visitation and child support was not improper. There was a change in circumstance warranting modification of the visitation provision and the modification was in the children’s best interests. The district court’s modification of the child support provision was equitable to all parties. Finally, the court did not abuse its discretion in declining to award attorney fees.