April 2020 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Heather L. Lauber and Lawrence P. McLellan, Judges.  CONVICTIONS AFFIRMED; SENTENCE VACATED AND REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Mullins, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J. (9 pages)

            Christina Bennett appeals following her guilty plea to lottery ticket fraud, failure to appear, and driving without the owner’s consent, arguing (1) the prosecutor breached the plea agreement when he recommended incarceration rather than probation, and her attorney was ineffective in failing to challenge the breach; (2) the district court erred in ordering her to reimburse the sheriff for jail room-and-board expenses without determining her reasonable ability to pay those expenses; and (3) if the reimbursement order was a civil judgment rather than a criminal restitution order, the statute authorizing payment of the expenses without affording her the opportunity to be heard violated due process.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm Bennett’s convictions.  We vacate her sentences and remand for resentencing before a different judge.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, David P. Odekirk, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (13 pages)

            Keith Mayes appeals from his conviction for sexual abuse in the second degree.  Mayes maintains the district court abused its discretion in determining the rape-shield law prevented the introduction of evidence the complaining witness had previously been shown a pornographic video, challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction, and argues the court abused its discretion in granting the State’s two requests for continuances.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding evidence based on the rape-shield law or in granting the State’s two requests for continuances.  Additionally, because substantial evidence supports Mayes’s conviction for sexual abuse in the second degree, we affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Mitchell E. Turner, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., Schumacher, J., and Danilson, S.J.  Opinion by Danilson, S.J.  (4 pages)

            Vincent Ndikumana appeals the district court decision dismissing his applications for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: We find further development of the record was not necessary before the court determined whether the applications should be dismissed.  We conclude the district court did not err by dismissing Ndikumana’s applications for postconviction relief because they were not filed within the three-year time period prescribed by Iowa Code section 822.3 (2018).  We affirm the decision of the district court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Buchanan County, Andrea J. Dryer, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (6 pages)

            Brian McConnelee challenges his prison sentence for seven crimes, including five counts of drug possession and two counts of operating while intoxicated, following our earlier remand.  On remand, the district court imposed a sentence of incarceration not to exceed seven years.  McConnelee appeals that new sentence, alleging his attorney should have asked for an updated presentence investigation report.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the record is not adequate to determine whether counsel made a tactical decision or if the absence of an updated report was prejudicial, we affirm the sentencing order but preserve the ineffective-assistance claim for potential postconviction-relief proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Kathleen A. Kilnoski, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (8 pages)

            Eric Thompson appeals the dismissal of his third postconviction-relief (PCR) application.  On appeal, Thompson argues that the holding of Allison v. State, 914 N.W2d 866, 891 (Iowa 2018), should be expanded to find the three-year statute of limitations for filing a PCR is unconstitutional.  Even if constitutional, Thompson claims Allison affords him the guarantee of competent counsel and both his trial and appellate counsels’ ineffective assistance warranted an exception to the three-year time bar.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude the three-year time bar is constitutional and the exception in Allison does not apply because Thompson did not file his PCR action “promptly.”  We affirm the dismissal of Thompson’s third PCR.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, Chris Foy, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (4 pages)

            Dustin Snowbird appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief (PCR).  He claims the PCR court should have found his trial and appellate counsel were ineffective for not challenging the felony-plea-taking court’s failure to mention his right to confront and cross examine the State’s witnesses.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find no credibility in Snowbird’s claim that had his attorneys challenged the plea-taking court’s omission of information on confrontation (either at the plea stage or on appeal) he would have insisted on going to trial and risked a sentence of thirty-one years in prison instead of eleven.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Monica Zrinyi Wittig, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  Dissent by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (6 pages)

            William Blakeman appeals from the summary dismissal of his application for postconviction relief (PCR).  OPINION HOLDS: Blakeman filed his PCR application after expiration of the three-year statute of limitations.  And he did not present a ground of fact or law that could not have been presented within three years after his conviction became final.  Blakeman also failed to preserve error on his equitable-tolling claim.  DISSENT ASSERTS: I believe the district court erred in dismissed the postconviction-relief application sua sponte without notice to Blakeman, despite the fact that an order filed less than three weeks earlier afforded his attorney forty-five days to file a brief and granted Blakeman the right to a hearing in the event a motion for summary judgment was filed.  I would reverse and remand for further proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Lawrence P. McLellan, Judge.  CONVICTIONS AFFIRMED; SENTENCES AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (11 pages)

            A man appeals convictions arising from his role as the driver in a hit-and-run.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the record insufficient to review the defendant’s ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim, and we therefore reserve the claim for possible future postconviction relief proceedings.  However, we vacate the restitution portion of the sentences and remand for entry of a new restitution order in accordance with recent Iowa Supreme Court precedent. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clay County, David A. Lester, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (8 pages)

            Roger Allen Rouse appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief, arguing his plea attorney was ineffective in (A) “allowing [him] to plead guilty without a valid waiver of his right to plead in open court” and (B) “allowing [him] to plead guilty since his guilty plea was involuntary.”  OPINION HOLDS: Because he failed to establish prejudice on the first claim and failed to establish a breach of essential duty on the second, we affirm the denial of his postconviction-relief application.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeffrey Farrell, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (9 pages)

            Michael Sandblom appeals his conviction of possession of a controlled substance.  He challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the crime and argues improper testimony was admitted at trial.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding no abuse of discretion in the complained-of evidentiary ruling and concluding Sandblom’s conviction is supported by substantial evidence, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Harrison County, James S. Heckerman, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, J.  (5 pages)

            The estate of Charlotte Anderson appeals the order granting summary judgment on a wrongful death claim in favor of Lindsay Arndt.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the evidence shows Lindsay Arndt had transferred her right or interest to the vehicle that struck and killed Charlotte Anderson, she cannot be held vicariously liable for the negligence acts of its driver as a matter of law.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Michael D. Huppert, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (10 pages)

            J.G. challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the district court’s entry of a protective order pursuant to the Sexual Abuse Act (Iowa Code chapter 236A (2019)).  OPINION HOLDS: Finding substantial evidence supports the district court’s finding that J.G. continued with the sex act after consent had been withdrawn, we affirm.