April 2020 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Joel W. Barrows, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Heard by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J. (18 pages)

            A jury convicted Edwin Goodwin Jr. of five counts of robbery in the second degree and one count of ongoing criminal conduct through specified unlawful activity.  On appeal, Goodwin maintains the trial court abused its discretion in admitting evidence of text messages over Goodwin’s authentication and relevancy objections.  He further contends the evidence at trial failed to support the “continuing basis” element of his conviction for ongoing criminal conduct and that trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to object to evidence Goodwin fled from the police when they tried to apprehend him.  OPINION HOLDS: The court did not abuse its discretion in admitting evidence of text messages over Goodwin’s authentication and relevancy objections, and Goodwin’s ineffective-assistance claim fails because he cannot establish prejudice.  That said, because insufficient evidence supports the “continuing basis” of Goodwin’s ongoing-criminal-conduct conviction, we vacate that conviction and sentence.  We remand this matter for entry of dismissal with prejudice of the charge.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Paul D. Scott, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Doyle, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, J.  (18 pages)

            Surgery Center of Cedar Rapids and intervenor UnityPoint Health Cedar Rapids appeal from the district court’s ruling on judicial review affirming the Iowa Department of Health’s decision to issue a certificate of need to Fox Eye Surgery, LLC (Fox Eye).  OPINION HOLDS: Like the district court, we affirm the department’s approval of Fox Eye’s application for a certificate of need.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Greene County, Joseph B. McCarville, District Associate Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Heard by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (14 pages)

            Kole Higgins challenges his five drug-related convictions.  He claims the district court should have suppressed evidence found at his home during the execution of a search warrant not supported by probable cause.  OPINION HOLDS: The search warrant application offered no observations, direct or indirect, showing Higgins kept drugs in his home.  Without that nexus, the issuing magistrate did not have a substantial basis to find probable cause for the warrant. 

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

            LC Dewayne Johnson Jr. appeals his conviction for possession of a controlled substance, third offense, claiming his right to a trial within ninety days of the trial information was violated.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude there was no speedy-trial violation under Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 2.33(2)(b).  We affirm the district court’s ruling denying Johnson’s motion to dismiss, and we affirm Johnson’s judgment and sentence.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, James D. Birkenholz, District Associate Judge.  PROBATION REVOCATION REVERSED, SENTENCE VACATED, AND CASE REMANDED.  Heard by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (6 pages)

            Monica Sandoval challenges the imposition of judgment and sentence on her offense of fourth-degree theft, claiming the district court contravened Iowa Code section 908.11 (2017) by imposing a jail sentence for contempt and revoking her deferred judgment based on the same probation violation.  OPINION HOLDS: Because under these circumstances the original probation violation cannot result in both a contempt punishment and revocation of her deferred judgment, we reverse the revocation of Sandoval’s deferred judgment, vacate the imposition of sentence, and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, Steven P. Van Marel, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (7 pages)

            Matthew Harbour accepted a plea agreement in which the State agreed to dismiss the habitual-offender enhancement of his operating while intoxicated (OWI) third offense eight days before the ruling in Noll v. Iowa Dist. Ct. for Muscatine County, 919 N.W.2d 232, 235 (Iowa 2018), was published.  Harbour challenges the district court’s denial of his motion to sever a theft charge.  Harbour also alleges his trial attorney was remiss in not protesting the plea agreement as invalid.  OPINION HOLDS: Because Harbour pleaded guilty in open court, and acknowledged he was doing so knowingly and voluntarily, Harbour waived his right to appeal the adverse ruling on his motion to sever the theft charge.  Next, because we have no record to verify what advice counsel gave to Harbour or that counsel anticipated Noll, we cannot decide Harbour’s ineffective-assistance claim on direct appeal.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Mills County, Richard H. Davidson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (12 pages)

            D’Angelo Goods appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief (PCR).  Goods claims both his trial counsel and PCR counsel provided ineffective assistance and makes a reasonable-ability-to-pay claim relating to a restitution order.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude Goods has not established his trial or PCR counsel provided ineffective assistance.  The restitution claim is not properly brought in this appeal.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, John Telleen, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Mullins and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (11 pages)

            Larry Wiggins Jr. appeals his conviction of possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.  He argues his attorney was ineffective in failing to challenge the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction and failing to request a jury instruction concerning accommodation with a special interrogatory concerning quantity.  He also argues the court erred in denying his motion for mistrial during jury selection.  OPINION HOLDS: Having found no abuse of discretion in the court’s denial of Wiggins’s mistrial motion and counsel was not ineffective as alleged, we affirm Wiggins’s conviction.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Sarah Crane, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (11 pages)

            Marten Huffey sought compensation from his employer for his work-related injuries.  He also raised a claim against the Second Injury Fund.  After the workers’ compensation commissioner decided the matter, both parties appealed the district court’s judicial review order reversing and remanding Huffey’s claim for benefits back to the worker’s compensation commissioner for further determination.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the Second Injury Fund points to no code provisions that require Huffey to present medical documentation of his 1999 injury and a first injury need not result in an industrial disability to constitute a “loss of use,” we conclude the agency wrongly interpreted the law when assessing the requirements for proof of a valid first loss.  Next, whether Huffey satisfied the third element of a second-injury claim remains to be decided by the commissioner.  Last, we believe a remand is necessary for the agency to evaluate the conflicting expert testimony on the sequela issue and decide whether Huffey’s claim that the March 2011 injury caused permanent and total disability because of a left knee sequela injury under Iowa Code 85.34(2) (2018).

      Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Benton County, Lars G. Anderson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and Ahlers, JJ.  Greer, J., takes no part.  Opinion by Doyle, J.  (6 pages)

            Parties to a wrongful death lawsuit appeal the order granting a new trial on damages.  OPINION HOLDS: Because there is a reasonable probability that juror misconduct influenced the verdict relating to damages, the trial court acted within its discretion in granting a new trial on that issue.  But there is no basis for finding the award itself was inadequate, so an order for additur is unwarranted. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Fayette County, Richard D. Stochl, Judge.  CONVICTION AFFIRMED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Ahlers, J., and Gamble, S.J.  Opinion by Gamble, S.J.  (6 pages)

            Elmer Scheckel appeals from his Alford plea to third-degree fraudulent practice.  OPINION HOLDS: Counsel was not ineffective for allowing Scheckel to enter a plea because sufficient evidence supported the charge.  We remand for entry of a nunc pro tunc order to correct a scrivener’s error in the judgment entry.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, David Porter, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Mullins, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (5 pages)

            Ray Sullins appeals the district court’s order granting Donna Sullins’ pre-answer motion to dismiss his petition to vacate a district court order denying his motion for new trial.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm.