February 2020 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clinton County, Stuart P. Werling, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Tabor, J., takes no part.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (5 pages)

            Following a trial on the minutes of evidence, Robert Mohr was convicted of operating while intoxicated, first offense.  On appeal, Mohr challenges the denial of his motion to suppress, maintaining the officer who stopped his vehicle had neither reasonable suspicion nor probable cause to do so.  OPINION HOLDS: Because credible evidence supports the determination the officer witnessed Mohr drive his vehicle over the center line of the four-lane divided road, the officer had probable cause to initiate the stop.  We affirm the district court’s denial of Mohr’s motion to suppress.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Lee (North) County, John M. Wright, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J. (14 pages)

            Lha Southideth-Whiten appeals his conviction for voluntary manslaughter, in violation of Iowa Code sections 707.4 (2016).  He contends the trial court abused its discretion in excluding expert testimony concerning his justification defense and erred in instructing the jury that a person is not justified in using reasonable force if an alternative course of action is available without noting the “home exception.”  OPINION HOLDS: Finding no abuse of the trial court’s discretion concerning the expert witness’s testimony or error in the jury instructions, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jackson County, Nancy S. Tabor, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Tabor, J., takes no part.  Opinion by Bower, C.J. (4 pages)

            Jacob Boothby pleaded guilty to assault with intent to inflict serious injury.  On appeal, he asserts the sentencing court improperly considered his failure to sign a release of information for mental-health and substance-abuse treatment.  OPINION HOLDS: The court’s statements concerning Boothby’s refusal to sign a release of information for his mental-health and substance-abuse treatment shows the court was considering relevant information with respect to what sentence would be most appropriate.  Finding no abuse of discretion, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Becky Goettsch, District Associate Judge and Thomas P. Murphy, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Doyle, J., and Vogel, S.J.  Opinion by Vogel, S.J. (3 pages)

            Felix Mejia appeals his conviction for indecent exposure, arguing his counsel was ineffective for failing to ensure his waiver of jury trial was voluntary and intelligent.  OPINION HOLDS: On the record before us, we cannot determine whether prejudice resulted from his counsel’s alleged failure to obtain a proper jury-trial waiver.  Therefore, we affirm his conviction and preserve his deficient-waiver claim for a postconviction-relief proceeding.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Carroll County, William C. Ostlund, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.  Heard by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (14 pages)

            Randy Kohorst appeals the district court’s dissolution order, arguing the court erred by (1) granting Michelle Kohorst a life estate in a lakefront property he purchased before the marriage and (2) awarding her traditional, monthly spousal support.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude the plain language of the premarital agreement grants Michelle a life estate in the property.  We modify the district court decree to require Michelle to pay the expenses related to the property, including insurance on the property’s contents.  We also affirm the spousal support award and award Michelle appellate attorney fees. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, Adam Sauer, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (10 pages)

            Nicholas Wright appeals the denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained from warrantless “trash rips.”  OPINION HOLDS: Because the law enforcement officer did not intrude upon a constitutionally-protected interest and Wright had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents of the garbage containers left out for collection, we affirm the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Carroll County, Joseph B. McCarville, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, P.J.  (6 pages)

            Valentino Whitaker appeals his conviction and sentence for third-degree theft.  OPINION HOLDS: I. Substantial evidence supports the jury’s finding that Whitaker committed third-degree theft by taking a purse belonging to another.  II. We preserve Whitaker’s claims that he received ineffective assistance from trial counsel for postconviction-relief proceedings.  III. The district court acted within its discretion in ordering Whitaker to pay $5000 in victim restitution.    

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Carla T. Schemmel and Jeffrey D. Farrell, Judges.  APPEAL DISMISSED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (4 pages)

            A defendant appeals from convictions for the death and serious injury of occupants of his taxicab.  OPINION HOLDS: We dismiss his appeal because of his flight from justice.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Linda M. Fangman, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (3 pages)

            Davonus Smart argues the court abused its discretion by imposing the minimum fine and that his written guilty plea with unidentified written notations on it should be set aside.  OPINION HOLDS: Smart has failed to overcome the presumption of regularity in sentencing, and we therefore affirm.  Smart failed to file a motion in arrest of judgment challenging the written notations on the plea agreement, so we do not reach the merits of his additional complaint.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Lee (North) County, Michael J. Schilling, Judge.  SENTENCES AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, P.J. (6 pages)

            Gary Manning appeals the sentences imposed after pleading guilty to three counts of third-degree burglary.  OPINION HOLDS: I. The district court did not consider an improper factor in sentencing Manning by noting that his “entire family” was involved in a criminal enterprise.  The presentence investigation report noted that Manning’s wife and two sons were also charged for their involvement in the burglaries, and Manning did not object to that portion of the report.  And nothing in the record suggests the court believed that any other family members were involved.  II. Because the plea agreement is silent regarding victim restitution for the dismissed charges, the district court erred in assessing Manning victim restitution for those charges.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Mark D. Cleve, Judge.  APPEAL DISMISSED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (4 pages)

            Randy Paper appeals the probate court’s order granting the appellees’ motion to amend pleadings.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the order is not “final,” we lack jurisdiction.  And we decline to grant interlocutory review.  So we dismiss the appeal.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Fremont County, Kathleen Kilnoski, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (15 pages)

            Defendant Trustees of Mule Slough Drainage District (Trustees) appeal the district court’s decision finding it had improperly annexed and reclassified land into the Mule Slough Drainage District (Mule Slough DD).  OPINION HOLDS: We find the district court properly determined the trustees for the Missouri Valley Drainage District (Missouri Valley DD) could appear as plaintiffs in this action.  We affirm the district court decision finding the Mule Slough DD did not properly annex the land in the Missouri Valley DD.  The Mule Slough DD did not follow the statutory procedures to accomplish annexation, and it has not presented sufficient legal arguments to show why the statutory provisions should not be followed.  Furthermore, without annexation, the Mule Slough DD did not have authorization to reclassify the land in question.  We agree with the court’s conclusion that because there were errors in the annexation proceedings, the annexation in whole must be vacated.  We affirm the decision of the district court.