October 2020 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Linda M. Fangman, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (8 pages)

            Ishmael Komeh appeals his conviction for assault causing serious injury, possession of a firearm as a felon, and domestic abuse assault.  He claims trial counsel provided ineffective assistance, asserts inconsistent jury verdicts should have resulted in a new trial or dismissal of a charge, challenges the restitution provision, and claims the sentencing court abused its discretion in imposing consecutive sentences.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, William Kelly, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Carr, S.J.  (4 pages)

            Keith Cutwright appeals the denial of his request for reimbursement of restitution paid for attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: Because Cutwright’s restitution was paid in full, there was nothing left for Cutwright to pay, and the district court acted properly in denying his motion to modify restitution.  And Cutwright had no right to court-appointed counsel because an action to modify restitution is civil rather than criminal.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Harrison County, Richard H. Davidson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, P.J.  (8 pages)

            The estate of Charlotte Anderson appeals from the district court order granting summary judgment in favor of the defendants on its claims of negligence and misconduct.  OPINION HOLDS: The behavior at issue falls under dramshop liability, which preempts common law tort claims.   Because the estate settled its dramshop claims with the bar, the district court properly granted summary judgment in favor of the bar.  And because the remaining defendants are immune from liability under the social host immunity afforded by the dramshop statute, the court properly granted summary judgment on the remaining claims. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Des Moines County, John M. Wright, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (13 pages)

            Devon Tisor appeals the district court’s denial of her motion to extend the deadline to resist summary judgment and the court’s subsequent grant of summary judgment in favor of coemployees at her late husband’s work place.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion to extend deadline and properly granted summary judgment, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, George L. Stigler, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (4 pages)

            Antavieon Jackson appeals the dismissal of his application for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s denial of Jackson’s application. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Chad A. Kepros, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (4 pages)

            Jackie Jermaine Lane appeals the dismissal of his application for postconviction relief, contending his trial counsel was ineffective in several respects.  OPINION HOLDS: Because Lane has failed to prove counsel was ineffective, we affirm the dismissal of his application.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clay County, Nancy L. Whittenburg, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and Greer, JJ.  Carr, S.J., takes no part.  Opinion by Doyle, P.J.  (10 pages)

            A jury found Michael Jones guilty of possession of methamphetamine and marijuana.  Jones claims there is insufficient evidence to support the convictions.  OPINION HOLDS: We are not satisfied the evidence was sufficient for the jury to reasonably infer that Jones knew the drugs were present and exercised control and dominion over them.  Because the evidence could not support the jury’s verdict, we reverse the judgment and sentence entered following Jones’s convictions and remand the case to the district court to vacate Jones’s convictions and dismiss the charges.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, James A. McGlynn, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (21 pages)

            Landus Cooperative (Landus) appeals the denial of its motion for summary judgment, contending the district court erred in finding a genuine issue of material fact whether an employer‑employee relationship existed between Landus and Troy Shaw.  Landus argues under guidance from the Restatement (Second) and the Restatement (Third) of Torts on negligent hiring, it cannot be held directly liable for the harm caused to a third person by the employee of an independent contractor.  OPINION HOLDS: We find there is no genuine issue of material fact that Landus directly hired or retained Troy as its employee.  Because the Restatements do not impose direct employer liability for the harm caused to third parties by an employee hired by its independent contractor, we reverse the court’s second summary judgment ruling on the negligent-hiring claim.  We also reverse the court’s ruling on the motion to dismiss the punitive-damages claim as it stemmed from the negligent-hiring claim.  We remand for further proceedings. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Gregory W. Steensland, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (10 pages)

            A Pottawattamie County jury found Jessica Elvins guilty of willful injury causing serious injury.  On appeal, she argues the trial court erred in denying her motion for acquittal, her counsel was ineffective for failing to raise the issue of identification, and the court abused its discretion in denying her request for a pretrial immunity hearing.  OPINION HOLDS. Because Elvins’s sufficiency- of- the- evidence claim was not preserved, she failed to establish her counsel was ineffective, and the trial court did not err in denying her motion for immunity, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Robert B. Hansen, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (8 pages)

            Thomas Yarges pled guilty to third-degree criminal mischief, two counts of driving while barred, and stalking.  Yarges asks that we vacate his convictions, sentences, and judgments and remand his case for further proceedings based on his claim the district court improperly applied his plea deal.  He frames his case under a theory of ineffective assistance of counsel.  OPINION HOLDS: With little information in the record about the interplay between two written plea agreements, we do not know if Yarges got the benefit of his bargain or if his counsel should have objected at sentencing.  Thus, we are unable to rule on this ineffective-assistance claim at this stage of the proceeding.  We affirm Yarges’s convictions and sentences but preserve his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel for possible postconviction-relief proceedings. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dallas County, Terry Rickers, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (9 pages)

            Broderick Family, L.P. appeals an order granting the City of Waukee’s motion for summary judgment.  OPINION HOLDS: We agree with the district court that no taking occurred.  So the court was correct in granting Waukee’s motion for summary judgment.  We affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Mahaska County, Lucy J. Gamon, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (19 pages)

            Following a conviction of second-degree murder, Luke Van Hemert appeals the district court’s denial of immunity pursuant to Iowa’s stand-your-ground law contained in Iowa Code section 704.13 (2018).  Van Hemert also alleges his counsel was ineffective for failing to object to a malice aforethought inference jury instruction.  He argues the evidence is insufficient to support the jury’s finding that he lacked justification and acted with malice aforethought; the jury’s verdict is contrary to the weight of the evidence; and the trial court erred in excluding certain impeachment evidence.  OPINION HOLDS: We find no error in the trial court’s denial of Van Hemert’s request for a pretrial immunity hearing.  We find substantial evidence supports the jury’s findings that Van Hemert acted without justification and with malice aforethought and the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Van Hemert’s motions for new trial. We find the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding certain impeachment evidence. Lastly, we are unable to address Van Hemert’s ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim on direct appeal.