March 2020 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, James C. Ellefson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, J.  (7 pages)

            George Jackson contends the sentencing court erred in correcting his original illegal sentence without holding a hearing where he could be present.  OPINION HOLDS:  Only the portion of the sentence imposed by the nunc pro tunc order that this court vacated required resentencing for imposition of the statutorily required batterers’ treatment program.  Jackson knew of the requirement that he attend a batterers’ treatment program when he pled guilty plea and no doubt expected his sentence to include the requirement.  We therefore conclude that Jackson’s presence was not required at the correction of his sentence, and any error was harmless.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Howard County, Richard D. Stochl, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (5 pages)

            Carrie Leff appeals the denial of her application for rule to show cause regarding her ex-husband, Charles Leff, and the denial of her request for trial attorney fees.  She also requests appellate attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the trial court did not grossly abuse its discretion in declining to hold Charles in contempt for his underpayment of spousal support.  We further find no statutory authority to award trial or appellate attorney fees to Carrie here.  Therefore, we affirm and deny Carrie’s request for appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clinton County, Marlita A. Greve, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (8 pages)

            A father appeals from the dismissal of his petition to modify an order’s custodial provisions.  OPINION HOLDS: The changes in circumstances since the order entered in 2017 fall short of the heavy burden necessary for a modification of custody.  We therefore affirm the dismissal of the father’s petition to modify the custodial order.  We decline to award appellate attorney fees to the mother and assess costs on appeal to the father.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Crawford County, James S. Heckerman, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Tabor and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  Schumacher, J., takes no part.  (4 pages)

            Appellants appeal an award of guardian fees in a probate proceeding.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the award of fees in favor of the guardian. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court; for Mitchell County, Karen Kaufman Salic, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (6 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to two children, contending (1) the State failed to prove the grounds for termination cited by the juvenile court; (2) termination was not in the children’s best interests; (3) the juvenile court should have invoked certain exceptions to termination; and (4) the juvenile court should have granted her additional time to work toward reunification.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the child could not be returned to her custody, the mother was not in a position to safely parent the children, the court acted appropriately in not invoking exceptions to termination, and additional time would not resolve the court’s concerns, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, William A. Price, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (9 pages)

            The mother and father separately appeal the juvenile court’s order terminating their parental rights to the child.  OPINION HOLDS: The State proved the statutory grounds for terminating the parental rights of both parents, and termination is in the child’s best interest.  Therefore, we affirm the termination of the parental rights of both parents.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Fayette County, Linnea M.N. Nicol, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (9 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her minor child under Iowa Code chapter 232 (2019).  On appeal, the mother argues the State failed to prove grounds for termination, she was not provided sufficient reunification services, an exception should be applied to prevent termination, and she should have been granted a six-month extension.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude the State proved grounds for termination under section 232.116(1)(h); the mother waived her reasonable-efforts claim by failing to raise it before the termination hearing; no permissive exceptions apply to prevent termination; and a six-month extension is not warranted based on the facts here.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Sioux County, Daniel P. Vakulskas, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (6 pages)

            A father appeals the termination of his parental rights.  He argues clear and convincing evidence has not been produced to show the statutory grounds for terminating his parental rights and argues the State has not met its burden to make reasonable efforts to return the child to his care.  OPINION HOLDS: Clear and convincing evidence supported terminating the father’s parental rights.  The father’s argument regarding reasonable efforts by the State to return the child to his care was not preserved for our review.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Eric J. Nelson, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, J.  (9 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our de novo review of the record, we find the State provided reasonable reunification services to the mother as required in chapter 232, and the State proved by clear and convincing evidence grounds for terminating her parental rights under Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(h) (2019).  We also conclude termination of her parental rights is in the child’s best interests and those interests are not served by granting additional time for reunification or application of a permissive factor to avoid termination.  For all these reasons, we affirm the juvenile court’s order terminating the mother’s parental rights in all respects.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Mary L. Timko, Associate Juvenile Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., May, J., and Mahan, S.J.  Opinion by Mahan, S.J.  (7 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to four children, contending (1) the State failed to prove the grounds for termination cited by the juvenile court; (2) the juvenile court should have granted her additional time to work towards reunification; and (3) termination was not in the children’s best interests.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the decision of the juvenile court to terminate the mother’s parental rights.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jasper County, Steven J. Holwerda, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (8 pages)

            A mother and father separately appeal the juvenile court decision terminating their parental rights to their child.  Each contends the State failed to prove the grounds for termination by clear and convincing evidence.  The father contends termination of his parental rights is not in the best interests of the child.  Both parents ask for an additional six months to achieve reunification.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm on both appeals.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Kimberly Ayotte, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (9 pages)

            The mother of J.J., G.J., and J.C. and the father of J.C. separately appeal the termination of their parental rights to their respective children.  The mother and father both challenge whether the statutory grounds for termination have been met, maintain termination is not in the best interest of their respective children, argue an exception precludes termination, and assert the children should have been placed in the custody of one of the grandmothers when their parental rights were terminated.  The mother also maintains she should have been given additional time to work toward reunification.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the termination of the mother’s and the father’s parental rights.