June 2019 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, David P. Odekirk, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Potterfield and Tabor, JJ.  Opinion by Potterfield, J.  (21 pages)

            Steve Fordyce appeals his conviction after bench trial for voluntary manslaughter.  He claims (1) the State did not present substantial evidence to disprove his justification defense beyond a reasonable doubt, (2) the district court erred in not applying the amended Iowa Code chapter 704 (2017)—also known as the “stand your ground” law—to his case, and (3) his due process rights were violated by the length of time between his trial and the entry of the district court’s verdict.  OPINION HOLDS: Because substantial evidence disproves Fordyce’s justifications of self-defense and defense of others, the district court did not err in refusing to apply the stand your ground law to Fordyce’s case, and we do not find Fordyce’s due process rights were violated due to the delay between trial and the verdict, we affirm his conviction for voluntary manslaughter.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Mark T. Hostager, District Associate Judge.  DISTRICT COURT JUDGMENT REVERSED IN PART AND CASE REMANDED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Tabor and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (6 pages)

            The defendant challenges the adequacy of the court’s colloquy when he stipulated to a prior operating while intoxication (OWI) conviction to enhance the current conviction for second-offense OWI.  The court did not mention the prior OWI was valid for enhancement only if the defendant had been represented by counsel or knowingly waived the right to counsel.  The defendant also alleges the colloquy did not adequately advise him of the applicable penalties for owi second offense.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the colloquy did not comply with the requirements clarified in State v. Harrington, 893 N.W.2d 36 (Iowa 2017), State v. Brewster, 907 N.W.2d 489 (Iowa 2018), and State v. Smith, 924 N.W.2d 846 (Iowa 2019), we reverse the judgment entered on the OWI second offense and remand for further proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Arthur E. Gamble, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., Bower, J., and Mahan, S.J.  Gamble, S.J., takes no part.  Opinion by Mahan, S.J.  (15 pages)

            Chelsea Jacques appeals the district court’s decree ordering custody of her child with Adrian Wilson and ruling on her petition to disestablish Wilson’s paternity of the child.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we conclude Adrian’s paternity has been established and the court’s decree placing care of the child with him is in the child’s best interests.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, George L. Stigler, Judge.  AFFIRMED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., Tabor, J., and Gamble, S.J.  Opinion by Gamble, S.J.  (12 pages)

            DeAndrew Harris was granted interlocutory appeal of the district court’s ruling denying his motion for an expert witness at state expense in this postconviction-relief proceeding.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding no abuse of discretion, we affirm.  The matter is remanded for further proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, Chris Foy, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Tabor and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (12 pages)

            Larry Whaley appeals from his conviction for second-degree murder.  He contends the State offered insufficient evidence to support the jury verdict finding he acted with malice aforethought and without justification when he fired three shots through his closed apartment door, killing Samantha Teeter.  OPINION HOLDS: Viewing the record in the light most favorable to the verdict, we find substantial evidence to sustain Whaley’s second-degree murder conviction.  But because Whaley’s claims of ineffective assistance involve questions of trial strategy, and the record is inadequately developed to address those questions, we preserve them for possible postconviction-relief proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jackson County, Stuart P. Werling, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vogel, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Doyle, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, J.  (13 pages)

            Patricia Gerardy, the conservator for Wilma Poll, brought suit against Kenneth Poll concerning a real estate transaction between Kenneth and Wilma, alleging Kenneth unduly influenced Wilma to enter into the agreement and that Wilma was not competent to enter into the transaction.  The jury found in favor of Kenneth, and the district court denied Patricia’s posttrial motions.  Patricia appealed, and the Estate of Wilma Poll was substituted as the plaintiff/appellant after Wilma passed away.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review of the record, we conclude Patricia failed to preserve error on her claim she is entitled to a new trial based upon the district court’s reversal of its initial evidentiary ruling admitting credibility evidence.  Additionally, we find the district court did not err in denying Patricia’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, nor did the court abuse its discretion in denying her motion for a new trial, because there is sufficient evidence to support the jury’s verdict.  Accordingly, we affirm the jury’s verdict and the court’s rulings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, David P. Odekirk, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Tabor and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (13 pages)

            Derek Krieger appeals his convictions for third-degree burglary and two counts of criminal trespass.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find the State failed to prove the Wildwood Road apartment complex was not open to the public, we reverse Krieger’s burglary conviction.  And because the State did not prove Krieger entered the Joan Drive and West Ninth Street apartment complexes without permission, we likewise reverse Krieger’s criminal trespass convictions.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Timothy T. Jarman, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Tabor and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (9 pages)

            Phillip Naylor appeals his conviction for operating while intoxicated, second offense, alleging the district court should have granted his motion to suppress evidence discovered after police pulled him over based on two 911 calls from the same unnamed source.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find the details offered by the caller showed enough indicia of the driver’s intoxication to warrant stopping his truck to investigate, we affirm the suppression ruling and resulting conviction.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Jeffrey L. Larson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Tabor and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Potterfield, P.J.  (11 pages)

            Adam Blomdahl appeals from the denial of his application for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: Because Blomdahl has failed to prove either a breach of duty or prejudice resulting from alleged counsel errors, his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims fail.  We affirm the denial of his postconviction-relief application.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clinton County, Henry W. Latham II, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Vogel, C.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Vogel, C.J.  (4 pages)

            Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (Wells Fargo) appeals the denial of its petition to quiet title as to unknown heirs of Larry F. Humphrey.  Wells Fargo asserts it gave proper notice to any unknown heirs by publication.  OPINION HOLDS: We agree notice by publication is sufficient as to unknown heirs, and no estate need be opened to quiet title.  Therefore, we reverse and remand.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Joel A. Dalrymple, Judge.  PCR DECISION AFFIRMED; SENTENCES VACATED IN PART AND REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Potterfield, J., and Scott, S.J.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (5 pages)

            Donshey Reed appeals the district court’s denial of his application for postconviction relief (PCR), claiming (1) his sentence should be modified to remove illegally-imposed surcharges and (2) his PCR attorney was ineffective in “failing to present evidence or develop a record at the [PCR] proceeding.”  OPINION HOLDS: We vacate Reed’s sentence and remand for removal of the inapplicable surcharges.  We affirm the PCR court’s denial of Reed’s PCR application and preserve his claims that PCR counsel was ineffective for another possible postconviction-relief application.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Van Buren County, Randy S. DeGeest, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON APPEAL; REVERSED ON CROSS-APPEAL.  Considered by Vogel, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Potterfield, JJ.  Opinion by Vogel, C.J.  (10 pages)

            Michael Johnston, Elizabeth Johnston, Steve Johnston, and Judith Yeager (the Johnstons) appeal, and Gene Franklin and Connie Johnson (the Franklins) cross-appeal, the district court’s ruling following a remand from our court.  The Johnstons assert the district court should have been granted them fee simple ownership of the dock and shoreline area near Michael Johnston’s home, rather than a prescriptive easement.  The Franklins filed a cross-appeal, and claim the district court should have restricted the size and location of the dock and the width of the shoreline.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude the district court appropriately granted the Johnstons a prescriptive easement in the dock and shoreline.  Additionally, we order the boundaries of such easement be changed to conform to the Franklins’ requested specifications.