2019 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Poweshiek County, Rose Anne Mefford, District Associate Judge, and Lucy J. Gamon, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Vogel, C.J., Vaitheswaran, J., and Gamble, S.J.  Opinion by Vogel, C.J.  Special Concurrence by Vaitheswaran, J.  (12 pages)

            Frederic Hayer appeals his convictions and sentence for the crimes of carrying weapons, operating while intoxicated, and possession of marijuana.  He argues the district court’s incorrect interpretation of Iowa’s implied consent statute resulted in the inappropriate denial of his motion to suppress.  Also, he asserts none of the jury’s guilty verdicts were supported by sufficient evidence.  OPINIONS HOLDS: We conclude the district court correctly interpreted and applied Iowa law, and therefore, properly denied Hayer’s motion to suppress the urine test.  In addition, we find substantial evidence supports all of the jury’s guilty verdicts.  SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: I believe Childs does read to suggest there must be a showing of impairment in addition to a showing the defendant ingested “any amount” of an illegal substance.  However, because that portion of the opinion is only dicta, I agree with the majority’s holding that we cannot construe that decision as Hayer would like.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Warren County, Jeffrey D. Farrell, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, P.J.  (11 pages)

            John Hadsall appeals the probate court’s judgment ordering him to return $383,595.63 to his mother Jean’s estate.  OPINION HOLDS: Because John was in a confidential relationship with Jean, and because he failed to show that his transfers of substantial amounts of Jean’s assets from her accounts to his were made in good faith or at the direction of or with the assent of Jean, we agree with the probate court that John must return the “gifted” assets to Jean’s estate.  Additionally, the amount calculated by the probate court to be returned was within the permissible range of evidence, and we find no reason to disturb the calculation.  We therefore affirm the probate court’s ruling in all respects.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeffrey D. Farrell, Judge.  AFFIRMED AND REMANDED.  Heard by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, P.J.  (14 pages)

            Delaware Township appeals the judgment entered in favor of Midwest Ambulance Service of Iowa, Inc. (Midwest Ambulance) after a jury awarded Midwest Ambulance $170,000 in damages on a breach-of-contract claim.  OPINION HOLDS: I. Delaware Township’s claim concerning the invalidity of the contract based on failure to meet statutory notice requirements is without merit.  Delaware Township had the authority to enter into the contract with Midwest Ambulance pursuant to Iowa Code section 359.42 (2009) (explicitly authorizing the trustees of each township to provide emergency medical service), and the township’s failure to provide notice as required by section 359.17 does not render the contract void.  II. Because Delaware Township failed to raise the issue of Midwest Ambulance’s failure to exhaust contractual remedies in its motion for directed verdict, the issue is not preserved for our review.  III. Delaware Township also failed to preserve error on its claim that Midwest Ambulance breached the contract by failing to exhaust contractual remedies.  IV. The district court properly exercised its discretion in excluding evidence of a fatal accident involving a Midwest Ambulance vehicle because the danger of unfair prejudice outweighed what little probative value the evidence contributed.  Even if evidence concerning the township’s failure to comply with statutory notice requirements was relevant, the court properly exercised its discretion by excluding it because the evidence was cumulative.  V.  The district court’s award of $72,255.51 in attorney fees and costs was not clearly unreasonable or based on untenable grounds.  Because the district court acted within its discretion in awarding attorney fees and costs, we affirm.  VI. We remand to the district court for the limited purpose of an evidentiary hearing on and the fixing of appellate attorney fees. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Paul D. Miller and Chad Kepros, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (3 pages)

            Timothy Hines appeals the dismissal of his application for postconviction relief.  OPINON HOLDS: We affirm the dismissal of Hines’s application. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Bremer County, Colleen D. Weiland, Judge.  AFFIRMED AND REMANDED.  Heard by Vogel, C.J., Vaitheswaran, J., and Gamble, S.J.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, J.  (10 pages)

            Mark McLeish appeals the probate of June McLeish’s will, challenging the district court’s determinations that (1) he had a confidential relationship with June, (2) he breached a fiduciary duty under the terms of his power of attorney, (3) he intentionally interfered with the sisters’ inheritance, and (4) the sisters were entitled to damages under the doctrine of ademption.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s order, and we remand to the district court for consideration of an award of appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, Steven P. Van Marel, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Potterfield, P.J., Doyle, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Potterfield, P.J. (10 pages)

            Ryan Dunn appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress.  Dunn concedes that he initially engaged in a consensual interaction with police officers but argues actions taken by officers during the encounter resulted in the unconstitutional seizure of his person.  He also argues his vehicle was unconstitutionally searched without a warrant and without an applicable exception to the warrant requirement.  Finally, Dunn argues, in the alternative, that he was subject to custodial interrogation without receiving a Miranda warning.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s denial of Dunn’s motion to suppress.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Richard H. Davidson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by McDonald, J. (3 pages)

            Roger Lustgraaf appeals his conviction of two counts of sexual abuse in the second degree.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Lustgraaf’s motion for new trial.  Lustgraaf’s counsel was not ineffective for failing to object to a jury instruction.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Sean McPartland, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (19 pages)

                David Wild appeals district court rulings granting summary judgment in favor of defendants on his claims of legal malpractice, breach of a business partner’s fiduciary duty, fraudulent misrepresentation, and equitable indemnity.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the denial of Wild’s motion for additional time to designate expert witnesses and the district court’s grant of summary judgment on all claims. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeanie Vaudt, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Potterfield, P.J., and Tabor and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (12 pages)

            Merle Hay Mall (MHM) appeals a district court ruling finding an enforceable settlement agreement between MHM and Flix Brewhouse Iowa.  MHM claims the parties did not reach an agreement on the meaning of the contract terms in the settlement agreement, so no contract existed.  OPINION HOLDS: We find substantial evidence supports the district court’s conclusion an enforceable settlement agreement existed between the parties and affirm the district court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Arthur E. Gamble, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Heard by Vogel, C.J., Vaitheswaran, J., and Danilson, S.J.  Gamble, S.J., takes no part.  Opinion by Vogel, C.J.  (10 pages)

            CRST Expedited, Inc. and AIG Insurance Co. (collectively, CRST) appeal the ruling by the district court reversing and remanding Richard Huff’s alternate-care decision of the Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commission.  CRST asserts the court erred in finding medical evidence is not required for an award of alternate care under Iowa Code section 85.27 (2017).  It further asserts Huff is not entitled to the specific appliances and services he seeks.  OPINION HOLDS: We agree with the district court that the lack of medical evidence is not a bright-line bar to an award of alternate-medical-care benefits.  However, the court’s determination that the specific appliances and services Huff requests are available to him relies on factual findings that must be made by the agency.  Because the agency used the wrong legal standard, the case must be remanded for the agency to make factual determinations, notwithstanding the lack of medical evidence to support his requests.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Arthur E. Gamble, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Vogel, C.J., Vaitheswaran, J., and Danilson, S.J.  Opinion by Danilson, S.J.  (9 pages)

            Mark Irland, M.D., appeals from the dismissal of his petition for judicial review, contending the district court erred in concluding it was without authority to review the Confidential Letter of Warning issued to him by the Iowa Board of Medicine.  OPINION HOLDS: Because nothing the Board “advised” has resulted in Board action, Irland has not been adversely affected by a final agency action.  The district court did not err in concluding it was without authority to review the Confidential Letter of Warning.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, David M. Porter, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (14 pages)

            Tricia Dauterive appeals from a district court order on her motion for modification of her divorce decree with Christopher Dauterive.  She contends the district court erred in continuing the shared-care arrangement.  She also contends the district court wrongly ordered her to pay all of their minor child’s orthodontia expenses and miscalculated child support and the parties’ respective shares of unreimbursed medical expenses.  Finally, she contests the award of trial attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: Tricia did not show ending the shared-care arrangement would be in the child’s best interests, so we affirm that provision of the modification ruling.  But we reverse the order that Tricia is solely responsible for the child’s orthodontia, reverse the award of attorney fees, and remand for recalculation of child support and the parties’ obligations for unreimbursed medical expenses.