2019 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Mark D. Cleve, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Potterfield and Tabor, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (4 pages)

            Darrell McBride appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to quash the district court’s income-withholding order related to past due child support obligations, asserting he was denied due process and equal protection.  OPINION HOLDS:  Because McBride failed to preserve his constitutional claims, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Carroll County, William C. Ostlund, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Tabor and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (13 pages)

            Nora Dirkx appeals the district court’s decree dissolving her marriage to Daniel Dirkx, challenging the district court’s calculation of their respective incomes, as well as its fusing of the child support and alimony awards.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find the support orders to be inequitable, we remand for the court to amend the decree to fix traditional spousal support at $900 per month and to recalculate Daniel’s child support obligation.  We affirm the decree in all other respects.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Fayette County, Richard D. Stochl, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (8 pages)

            A postconviction-relief applicant argues his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to adequately advise him on his right to testify in his own defense and for failing to keep him informed on the defense strategy, thereby depriving him of the ability to meaningfully participate in his defense.  The district court denied the application for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: On our review, we conclude trial counsel did not fail to perform an essential duty by advising his client not to testify or by exercising his judgment in choosing the defense strategy.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Paul D. Scott, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Tabor, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (13 pages)

            Former Polk County Sergeant Dan Charleston appeals the district court decision affirming the Polk County Civil Service Commission’s (commission) affirmance of the Sheriff’s termination of Charleston’s employment.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find substantial evidence supporting the commission’s decision, and because Charleston did not present direct and compelling evidence to overcome the presumption of honesty and integrity in the commissioners, we affirm the decision of the district court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Michael D. Huppert, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (24 pages)

            Former spouses appeal and cross-appeal the financial provisions of their dissolution-of-marriage decree.  Trustee appeals the dismissal of claims against the husband relating to the wife’s trust.  OPINION HOLDS: We find Carl Matherly created a resulting trust in favor of his daughter, MaryBeth Slezak, when he transferred the assets of her trust into an investment account without her consent.  The resulting trust is not marital property and not subject to the court’s division of the marital estate.  We find the trial court’s division of the marital estate equitable, taking into consideration the factors under Iowa Code section 598.21(5) (2016) and the circumstances in this case.  We further find Steven Matherly’s claims against Carl relating to Maribel Matherly’s trust are barred under Iowa Code section 633A.4506.  Based upon these findings, we affirm the trial court’s decision in its entirety.  We decline to award appellate attorney fees.  Costs on appeal are assessed one-third to Maribel’s estate, one-third to Carl, and one-third to the Maribel Matherly Trust.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Crawford County, Steven J. Andreasen, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Heard by Doyle, P.J., and Tabor and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (18 pages)

            Live-trap manufacturer N.P.Z., Inc. (ZTraps) appeals the district court’s dismissal of its suit against Ultra Image Powder Coating (Altra), arguing the court erroneously concluded it lacked specific personal jurisdiction over Altra.  OPINION HOLDS: Because Altra purposely directed activities at Iowa, and because the litigation arises out of or relates to those activities, Altra’s contacts with Iowa are sufficient to subject it to personal jurisdiction.  And we do not believe subjecting Altra to suit in Iowa offends traditional notions of fair play and substantial justice.  Accordingly, we reverse the district court’s dismissal and remand for further proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Fayette County, Richard D. Stochl and Margaret L. Lingreen, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Tabor and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Potterfield, P.J.  (9 pages)

            Dennis Langreck appeals the district court’s decision ordering him to remove a building and pay damages.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude the district court did not err by granting summary judgment to the City on Langreck’s counterclaims for quiet title or adverse possession.  We also conclude the court did not err in granting an injunction to the City requiring Langreck to move a shed.  We affirm the decision of the district court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Kevin McKeever, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Vogel, S.J., and Gamble, S.J.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (6 pages)

            Thaddeus (T.J.) Zimmerman appeals the physical care provisions of the decree dissolving his marriage to Jamie Zimmerman.  OPINION HOLDS: We decline to modify the physical care arrangement or award T.J. additional visitation.  Because T.J. seeks a modification of the child support award only if we modify the physical care arrangement, we need not address this issue.  We affirm the dissolution decree in its entirety.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Crawford County, Tod Deck, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Tabor and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Potterfield, P.J.  (16 pages)

            Ronald Nelson appeals from the judgment entered against him following a jury trial, where the jury determined he was the successor-in-interest and mere continuation of Broken Wing Farms, Inc., against which Heartland Co-op had obtained a judgment in 2014 for $810,021.95 with 3.25% interest.  On appeal, Nelson argues he was wrongly prevented from challenging Broken Wing’s debt to Heartland and that the district court erred by allowing the arbitration award against Broken Wing to have preclusive effect on the successor-liability claim against him personally.  He also disputes the district court’s rulings on two jury instructions and maintains the court should have granted his motion for directed verdict because there was insufficient evidence to submit the question of his successor liability to the jury.  OPINION HOLDS: Having reviewed each of Nelson’s claims and finding no reversible error, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Grundy County, Jeffrey L. Harris, District Associate Judge, and Bradley J. Harris, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., Bower, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Blane, S.J.  (13 pages)

            A defendant challenges on appeal, after trial to the court on the minutes, the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence of a gun found during an inventory search of his vehicle, and failure to suppress his refusal to take a breathalyzer test due to a claimed violation of his statutory right to make phone calls pursuant Iowa Code section 804.20 (2016).  OPINION HOLDS: The district court properly denied the motion to suppress: when it determined (1) the evidence of gun was admissible based on ultimate discovery rule; and (2) the officer complied with the requirements of section 804.20 and, even if the officer failed to comply, not suppressing evidence of denial of breathalyzer was harmless error in light of other overwhelming evidence of the defendant’s intoxication.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Webster County, William C. Ostlund, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (7 pages)

Charles B. Lex appeals from a ruling ordering him to fix obstructed drainage tile located below his property.  He contends the district court should not have found an easement on subsurface tiling from a neighboring property onto his property.  In the event of an affirmance, Lex asks that the ruling be amended to assess future costs associated with tile maintenance to the neighbor.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s order for injunctive relief in the form of replacement of the tiles.  Further, the issue of future tile costs was not raised or decided below, and therefore, resolution of the issue is premature.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Muscatine County, Henry W. Latham II, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Tabor, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Blane, S.J.  (9 pages)

            Defendant appeals the jury’s guilty verdict and the trial court’s denial of his motion for new trial based on his claim the complaining witness’s recantation of the allegation of sexual abuse at trial constitutes the greater weight of the evidence against his conviction.  OPINION HOLDS: The jury heard all of the evidence and determined the credibility of the witnesses regarding the recantation.  The trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying the defendant’s motion for new trial.