March 2020 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cedar County, Mark Lawson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (7 pages)

            Ernest Gaston appeals his convictions for eluding and possession of marijuana, third or subsequent offense.  OPINION HOLDS: Gaston claims he was not competent to plead guilty to the offenses.  We conclude the evidence does not show the district court should have scheduled a competency hearing.  For this reason, we find no error in the acceptance of the pleas.  We affirm Gaston’s convictions.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Carla T. Schemmel, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (4 pages)

            A.R. appeals the district court’s finding of serious mental impairment.  A.R. challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to establish she posed a risk of emotional or physical danger to herself or others.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court found that if not committed A.R. was likely to inflict serious emotional injury on members of her family who lacked reasonable opportunity to avoid contact with her.  There is substantial evidence in the record to support the district court’s finding, and we therefore affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Cheryl E. Traum, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (6 pages)

            Ronald Downs seeks to vacate his conviction for being voluntarily absent from custody in violation of Iowa Code section 719.4(3) (2018).  Downs pleaded guilty and waived reporting of the combined plea and sentencing hearing.  On appeal, Downs alleges trial counsel was ineffective because he did not inform him of a possible twenty-five percent collection fee on delinquent court debt, did not provide adequate information on the statutory surcharges, misadvised him of the penal consequences of his plea, and did not adequately investigate the State’s evidence.  OPINION HOLDS: On the first and second claims, we find the record adequate to reject Downs’s claims of ineffective assistance.  Because the record requires more development to resolve Downs’s third and fourth claims, we preserve them for a possible postconviction-relief action. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Wayne County, Patrick W. Greenwood, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J. (10 pages)

            Ethan Davis appeals from his convictions of assault causing bodily injury and child endangerment.  Davis challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his child-endangerment conviction.  Specifically, he challenges whether the evidence establishes he “knowingly act[ed]” and whether those actions created a “substantial risk” to the child’s physical, mental, or emotional health and safety.  Davis also maintains he received ineffective assistance from trial counsel when counsel did not challenge the jury instruction on “substantial risk.”  OPINION HOLDS: Because substantial evidence supports Davis’s conviction of child endangerment and his claim of ineffective assistance fails, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Winnebago County, Gregg R. Rosenbladt, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, J.  (12 pages)

            Chad Bonner appeals from convictions on two counts of second-degree sexual abuse following a bench trial.  OPINION HOLDS: Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the State, we conclude substantial evidence supports Bonner’s second-degree sexual abuse convictions.  We do not find the district court abused its discretion when it excluded Bonner’s proffered evidence or when it overruled Bonner’s motion for new trial based on newly discovered evidence.  We therefore affirm Bonner’s convictions.  We do not address his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel in this direct appeal.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cass County, Susan Christensen, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by May, J. (7 pages)

            Timothy Smith appeals his convictions for two counts of second-degree sexual abuse.  He claims he should have been able to challenge the identity of the complaining witness’s abuser by introducing evidence Smith’s son was also charged with sexually abusing the complaining witness.  He also claims he received ineffective assistance of counsel.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court properly excluded evidence that Smith’s son was also charged with sexually abusing the complaining witness.  We preserve Smith’s ineffective-assistance claim for future postconviction-relief proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Lee (South) County, Michael J. Schilling, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (2 pages)

            John Washburne appeals the summary dismissal of his second application for postconviction relief (PCR).  OPINION HOLDS: The PCR court properly dismissed Washburne’s PCR application.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Stuart P. Werling, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (12 pages)

            The defendant appeals from a sentence imposed following guilty plea proceedings.  OPINION HOLDS: We deny two of the defendant’s ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims and as the record is insufficient for review of the remaining ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims, we preserve them for a possible future postconviction proceeding.  We reject defendant’s argument that the trial court violated Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 2.8 when it added a late-fee provision to the sentencing order, and we find no violation of defendant’s due process rights.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Robert J. Richter, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J. (9 pages)

            Christopher Puccio appeals his conviction for attempted burglary.  He contends his trial counsel was ineffective in not asking for three jury instructions: (1) a lesser-included-offense instruction on criminal trespass; (2) an instruction on prior inconsistent witness statements; and (3) an instruction on how to evaluate eyewitness identification testimony.  OPINION HOLDS: We reject the first and second ineffective-assistance claims because those instructions did not apply to Puccio’s prosecution.  As to the third claim, better development of the record is needed to decide whether counsel was ineffective for not ensuring the jury had information about the fallibility of eyewitness identification.  So we preserve that claim for Puccio to raise if he seeks postconviction relief.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Brook Jacobsen, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (5 pages)

            Lorenzo Alexander appeals his conviction and sentence after he pled guilty to domestic abuse assault, second offense.  OPINION HOLDS: Alexander waived all claims of error by the district court.  We reject one of Alexander’s ineffective-assistance claims and preserve the rest. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Boone County, Stephen A. Owen, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  Special concurrence by Doyle, J.  (11 pages)

            Joshua Uranga appeals his conviction for failure to comply with sex offender registration requirements, contending the district court abused its discretion in denying his motions for judgment of acquittal and for new trial “where exculpatory evidence was produced after trial.”  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm Uranga’s judgment and sentence for failure to comply with the sex offender registry.  SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: Although I agree with the majority that Uranga’s admissions at trial established the elements of the crime, and that providing the jury with the sheriff’s courtesy letter probably would not have changed the result, it seems patently unfair that Uranga’s compliance with a directive of the county’s highest law enforcement officer played no part in the prosecution and disposition of this case.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, Adam D. Sauer, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (6 pages)

            Ricky Mahnesmith appeals following his guilty pleas to possession of methamphetamine (third offense) and forgery.  Mahnesmith argues (1) the pleas were not voluntary; (2) the district court abused its discretion in “not following the [sentencing] recommendation of the parties” and in failing to “make it clear why the sentences would run consecutively with the sentences in the probation revocation matters”; and (3) defense counsel was ineffective in several respects.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm Mahnesmith’s judgment and sentence for possession of methamphetamine (third offense) and forgery.