Filed Jul 03, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-1724
View Summary for Case No. 18-1724
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Ringgold County, Thomas P. Murphy, Judge. AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS. Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Doyle and Bower, JJ. Opinion by Doyle, J. (12 pages)
Chad Drake appeals the district court’s decree dissolving his marriage to Laura Drake. OPINION HOLDS: Upon our de novo review, we conclude Chad’s farm expenses should have been deducted from his farm income for purposes of calculating his child support obligation, and we find his farm operation’s annual income was $3100. Additionally, we affirm, as modified, the equalization payment ordered by the district court. Accordingly, we affirm as modified the district court’s award of the equalization payment to Laura, and we remand the case back to the district court for recalculation of Chad’s child support obligation using the lesser farm-income figure. We affirm the decree in all other respects.
Filed Jul 03, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-1798
View Summary for Case No. 18-1798
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Mills County, James S. Heckerman, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ. Opinion by Doyle, J. (4 pages)
Anthony Shellito appeals from the district court order modifying the decree governing custody, visitation, and support of the child he shares with Morgan Kaiser. OPINION HOLDS: Because Anthony has failed to meet his burden of showing a superior ability to minister to the child’s needs, we decline to modify the physical care provisions of the decree.
Filed Jul 03, 2019
View Opinion No. 18-1834
View Summary for Case No. 18-1834
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Fayette County, Richard D. Stochl, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ. Opinion by Doyle, J. (9 pages)
Victoria Dugan appeals the child custody and support provisions of the decree dissolving her marriage to James Dugan. OPINION HOLDS: I. The record supports the finding that granting James physical care of the parties’ six children serves the children’s best interests. We also affirm the visitation provisions of the dissolution decree. II. Because it is necessary to impute income to Victoria to do justice between the parties, we affirm district court’s child support calculation. III. We decline to award Victoria spousal support on the record before us. IV. We decline to award Victoria appellate attorney fees.
Filed Jul 03, 2019
View Opinion No. 19-0326
View Summary for Case No. 19-0326
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Palo Alto County, Ann M. Gales, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Mullins, P.J., Bower, J., and Vogel, S.J. Opinion by Mullins, P.J. (20 pages)
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights. OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the termination of the mother’s parental rights.
Filed Jul 03, 2019
View Opinion No. 19-0388
View Summary for Case No. 19-0388
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Romonda Belcher, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Mullins, P.J., Bower, J., and Vogel, S.J. Opinion by Mullins, P.J. (4 pages)
The father appeals a dispositional order in a child-in-need-of-assistance proceeding, challenging the court’s denial of his request for modification of placement and placing the child with the mother. OPINION HOLDS: Upon our de novo review and in consideration of the best interests of the child, we conclude the court’s determination that placement with the mother is the least restrictive alternative is supported by clear and convincing evidence. We affirm the dispositional order.
Filed Jul 03, 2019
View Opinion No. 19-0503
View Summary for Case No. 19-0503
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cedar County, Gary P. Strausser, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS. Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ. Opinion by May, J. (11 pages)
A mother and father appeal the juvenile court’s order terminating their parental rights. OPINION HOLDS: We conclude termination was proper under Iowa law and consistent with the child’s best interest. We affirm.
Filed Jul 03, 2019
View Opinion No. 19-0635
View Summary for Case No. 19-0635
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Plymouth County, Andrew Smith, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ. Opinion by Doyle, J. (7 pages)
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights. OPINION HOLDS: The State established the grounds for termination, and we find termination of the mother’s parental rights is in the children’s best interests even though each child is doing well in his and her father’s care. Under the facts and circumstances of this case, there is no reason to apply any of the permissive factors set out in Iowa Code section 232.116(3) (2018), nor is additional time under section 232.104(2)(b) justified. Accordingly, we affirm the order terminating the mother’s parental rights.
Filed Jul 03, 2019
View Opinion No. 19-0721
View Summary for Case No. 19-0721
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Stephanie Forker Parry, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ. Opinion by Mullins, J. (11 pages)
A father appeals the termination of his parental rights to his minor child, born in 2014. He contends the State failed to make reasonable efforts at reunification, challenges the sufficiency of the evidence underlying the statutory grounds for termination cited by the juvenile court, and argues termination is not in the child’s best interests. OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the juvenile court order terminating the father’s parental rights.
Filed Jul 03, 2019
View Opinion No. 19-0723
View Summary for Case No. 19-0723
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Mahaska County, Rose Anne Mefford, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Potterfield, P.J., Doyle, J., and Mahan, S.J. Opinion by Mahan, S.J. (6 pages)
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her child, contending termination of her parental rights is not in the best interests of the child. OPINION HOLDS: Upon our de novo review of the record, we conclude the State proved the termination of the mother’s parental rights is in the best interests of the child and we affirm the decision of the juvenile court to terminate the mother’s parental rights.
Filed Jun 19, 2019
View Opinion No. 17-1279
View Summary for Case No. 17-1279
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Edward A. Jacobson, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Potterfield, P.J., and Tabor and Bower, JJ. Opinion by Bower, J. (9 pages)
Michael Lang appeals on multiple grounds the district court’s dismissal of his application for postconviction relief filed in 2016 and his 2017 supplemental application. OPINION HOLDS: Lang claims structural error in the court’s decision, but the record is inadequate for us to evaluate this claim. We find most of Lang’s claims are time-barred, have been previously decided, or are otherwise not properly before this court. We find the new evidence challenging hair analysis at trial would not have changed the result of the trial. We affirm.
Filed Jun 19, 2019
View Opinion No. 17-1310
View Summary for Case No. 17-1310
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Mary Pat Gunderson, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Vogel, C.J., Mullins, J., and Scott, S.J. Opinion by Scott, S.J. (6 pages)
Raymond Sullins appeals the district court ruling denying his petition to vacate the court’s decision denying his motion for a new trial. OPINION HOLDS: We conclude Sullins did not assert adequate grounds to grant his motion to vacate. We affirm the decision of the district court.
Filed Jun 19, 2019
View Opinion No. 17-1574
View Summary for Case No. 17-1574
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Chad A. Kepros, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Potterfield, P.J., May, J., and Mahan, S.J. Per Curiam. (4 pages)
Daniel Jason appeals the district court’s denial of his two applications for postconviction relief. OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the court’s denial of Jason’s applications for postconviction relief.