2019 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, John C. Nelson, District Associate Judge.  CONVICTION AFFIRMED; SENTENCE PARTIALLY VACATED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (6 pages)

            Kathy Perry appeals her sentence for driving while her license was barred.  She contends the sentencing court abused its discretion by ordering her to pay attorney fees and court costs without determining what those amounts were but finding she was reasonably able to pay attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: The court found Perry had the reasonable ability to pay attorney fees without knowing the amount—we find this was an abuse of discretion and remand for further proceedings.  But, the court made no determination that Perry was reasonably able to pay for court costs.  Therefore, Perry’s challenge to the order to pay court costs is premature.  

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, John J. Bauercamper, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (5 pages)

            On discretionary review, the State challenges the district court’s denial of its motions to dismiss criminal prosecutions in the furtherance of justice.  OPINION HOLDS: The order denying the motion to dismiss provides no reasons why the court refused to grant the dismissal or why dismissal would not have been in the furtherance of justice.  In the absence of stated reasons, we find the district court abused its discretion when it denied the State’s motion for dismissal.  We further find the record made demonstrated sound reasoning and a proper exercise of prosecutorial discretion and executive branch function.  We reverse and remand for the court to enter an order granting the motion to dismiss, without prejudice.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Warren County, Mark F. Schlenker, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (4 pages)

            Jasiah Finck appeals the denial of his motion for a new trial on weight-of-the-evidence grounds.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding no abuse of discretion, we affirm the district court’s denial of Finck’s motion for a new trial. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Kellyann M. Lekar, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vogel, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Vogel, C.J.  (2 pages)

            Respondent Galen Shaffer appeals the district court’s order of continuing civil commitment under Iowa Code chapter 299A (2017).  OPINION HOLDS: The district court determined the State’s expert’s report was “more credible and reliable than [Shaffer’s expert]” and “more consistent with other credible evidence.”  We agree and affirm without further opinion.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Marshall County, Kim M. Riley, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (7 pages)

            Harold Lathrop challenges his sentence following convictions for second-degree theft and driving while barred.  First, he contends the sentencing court did not provide sufficient reasons for imposing the sentence following his plea of guilty by plea agreement.  Second, he contends the court’s order that he pay an at-that-time unknown amount of restitution was an abuse of discretion because the court did not determine whether he had the reasonable ability to pay.  OPINION HOLDS: First, because there is a diminished duty to give reasons for the sentence where the sentencing court accepts and adopts the parties’ plea agreement, we find no abuse of discretion in the court’s sentencing.  Second, the sentencing court had no obligation to make an ability-to-pay determination until it entered a plan of restitution, which had not been done in this case.  As the court had no obligation to make the determination, we find Lathrop’s challenge to be premature.  We affirm.  

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Winneshiek County, John J. Bauercamper, Judge.  POSSESSION OF CONTRABAND CONVICTION AND SENTENCE VACATED AND CASE REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (8 pages)

            Thomas Monson appeals his conviction, following an Alford plea, of possessing contraband in a jail.  He argues his counsel rendered ineffective assistance in allowing him to plead guilty absent a sufficient factual basis to support his plea.  OPINION HOLDS: We find counsel was ineffective as alleged.  Because there may be additional facts and circumstances not appearing in the record that would support an inference Monson knew he was in the possession of the marijuana, we vacate Monson’s conviction and sentence for that charge and remand for further proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Marshall County, Kim M. Riley, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (4 pages)

            William Simpson appeals the sentence imposed upon his conviction of assault with intent to inflict serious injury.  He argues the court abused its discretion by imposing an excessive sentence.  OPINION HOLDS: We find no abuse of discretion and affirm Simpson’s sentence.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Washington County, Daniel P. Kitchen, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vogel, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Vogel, C.J.  (2 pages)

            Christopher Beardshear appeals his conviction for operating while intoxicated, first offense.  OPINION HOLDS: The record before us lacks any basis to evaluate his ineffective-assistance claim.  Therefore, we affirm his conviction and preserve his ineffective-assistance claim for possible postconviction proceedings. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Warren County, Patrick W. Greenwood, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (7 pages)

            Jasiah Finck appeals the district court’s denial of his motion for a new trial on weight-of-the-evidence grounds following a jury verdict finding him guilty of violating a custodial order.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding no abuse of discretion, we affirm the district court’s denial of Finck’s motion for a new trial.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Patrick R. Grady, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vogel, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and McDonald, JJ.  Opinion by Vogel, C.J.  (3 pages)

            D.E. seeks judicial review of a decision of the Iowa Department of Human Services finding he committed child abuse and placing him on the central registry.  OPINION HOLDS: We agree with the thorough and well-reasoned opinion of the district court.  We affirm without further opinion.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Michael J. Shubatt (plea) and Monica Zrinyi Wittig (sentencing), Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (7 pages)

            Ricky Carter appeals his convictions, following guilty pleas, of a number of controlled-substance violations and the sentences imposed.  He claims his counsel rendered ineffective assistance in relation to his guilty pleas and the court imposed an illegal sentence.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the record inadequate to consider Carter’s ineffective assistance claim on direct appeal.  We reject Carter’s claim that the court imposed an illegal sentence.  We therefore affirm Carter’s conviction and sentence but preserve his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel for possible postconviction-relief proceedings. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Carol L. Coppola, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Bower, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, J.  (6 pages)

            David Shelledy appeals his sentence for operating while intoxicated, third offense, claiming the court should have continued his sentencing hearing and the court erred by imposing a harsher sentence than recommended in his presentence investigation report.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the court acted within its discretion in denying the motion to continue sentencing and imposing sentence.