Filed May 13, 2020
View Opinion No. 17-1925
View Summary for Case No. 17-1925
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Decatur County, Dustria A. Relph, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Mullins, J., and Potterfield, S.J. Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J. (8 pages)
Joshua Guill appeals his conviction for second-degree murder, contending that (1) the district court abused its discretion in excluding the testimony of his two younger brothers, who were slated to testify to his “non-violence and patience as a caregiver as they were growing up,” (2) the district court erred in refusing to give a jury instruction on prior inconsistent statements under oath, and (3) his trial attorney was ineffective in failing to object to a jury instruction stating that the jury could consider his out of court statements “just as if they had been made at this trial.” OPINION HOLDS: We affirm.
Filed May 13, 2020
View Opinion No. 18-1054
View Summary for Case No. 18-1054
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Chickasaw County, Richard D. Stochl, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ. Opinion by Bower, C.J. (13 pages)
James Mincks appeals his convictions for second-degree and third-degree sexual abuse. He asserts insufficient evidence supports his convictions, the court erred in admitting hearsay and vouching testimony, and trial counsel provided ineffective assistance. OPINION HOLDS: We find substantial evidence supports the verdicts and the court did not err or abuse its discretion in permitting testimony and affirm. We preserve one claim of ineffective assistance of counsel for potential postconviction relief and dismiss the other ineffective-assistance claims on the merits.
Filed May 13, 2020
View Opinion No. 18-1072
View Summary for Case No. 18-1072
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Carol S. Egly, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ. Opinion by Tabor, P.J. (5 pages)
Awadia Deng challenges her conviction for marijuana possession. Deng did not move in arrest of judgment to challenge her guilty plea. She contends the district court failed to warn her of the consequences of not moving in arrest of judgment. She also alleges her attorney was ineffective in advising her about the immigration consequences of her guilty plea. OPINION HOLDS: Because both the signed guilty plea and the order accepting the plea contained full explanations of the need to file a motion in arrest of judgment, Deng waived error by opting not to move in arrest of judgment. Also, because the record is inadequate to resolve her ineffective-assistance claim on direct appeal, we affirm her conviction but preserve her claim for possible postconviction-relief proceedings.
Filed May 13, 2020
View Opinion No. 18-1623
View Summary for Case No. 18-1623
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Michael J. Shubatt, Judge. REVERSED and REMANDED. Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Mullins, J., and Potterfield, S.J. Opinion by Mullins, J. (10 pages)
Anthony Ernst appeals his conviction of attempted burglary in the third degree in violation of Iowa Code section 713.6B (2017). He argues the State failed to produce sufficient evidence to support the verdict and that it is against the weight of the evidence. He also argues his trial counsel was ineffective in failing to object to the admission of cell phone records. OPINION HOLDS (after rehearing): Because the evidence was insufficient to support the jury’s verdict, we reverse and remand for judgment of acquittal.
Filed May 13, 2020
View Opinion No. 18-1703
View Summary for Case No. 18-1703
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Joel W. Barrows, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Mullins and Ahlers, JJ. Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J. (8 pages)
Raul V. Ruiz Jr. appeals his conviction for failure to comply with sex offender registry requirements, second or subsequent offense, as an habitual offender, contending that: (1) there was insufficient evidence to establish he “knowingly” failed to comply with the registry requirements; (2) the district court’s findings of fact were inadequate; (3) the district court erred in concluding that Iowa Code section 901.8 (2018) required the imposition of consecutive sentences; (4) the conviction was void because of “extrinsic fraud”; (5) the district court erred in interpreting Iowa Code section 692A.103(1) to require registration; and (6) the district court lacked territorial jurisdiction. OPINION HOLDS: We affirm.
Filed May 13, 2020
View Opinion No. 18-1884
View Summary for Case No. 18-1884
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Marshall County, John J. Haney, Judge. SENTENCE VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED. Considered by Mullins, P.J., Schumacher, J., and Mahan, S.J. Opinion by Mahan, S.J. (3 pages)
Patrick Chamberlin appeals the restitution ordered as part of his sentence in four consolidated criminal proceedings. OPINION HOLDS: We vacate the portion of the sentencing order involving restitution for court costs and correctional fees and remand to the district court for further proceedings consistent with State v. Albright, 925 N.W.2d 144 (Iowa 2019).
Filed May 13, 2020
View Opinion No. 18-2003
View Summary for Case No. 18-2003
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Joel W. Barrows, Judge. REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR NEW TRIAL. Considered by Tabor, P.J., and May and Greer, JJ. Opinion by Tabor, P.J. (12 pages)
Devario Talley challenges his convictions for eluding and child endangerment. He contends the State did not offer enough evidence to merit an instruction on the alternative theory of aiding and abetting. OPINION HOLDS: Neither direct nor circumstantial evidence sustains the prosecutor’s belated theory of aiding and abetting. The record lacked sufficient evidence to support a jury instruction on aiding and abetting. Also, because the jury returned general verdicts—not specifying between the State’s two theories—we must reverse and remand for a new trial.
Filed May 13, 2020
View Opinion No. 18-2107
View Summary for Case No. 18-2107
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Sioux County, Jeffrey A. Neary, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ. Opinion by Ahlers, J. (5 pages)
This case involves yet another attempt by Jay Driesen to collaterally attack a judgment entered in 2008 pertaining to this trust. He appeals from a series of orders entered November 20, 2018. OPINION HOLDS: Because Jay has not brought to our attention any issues related to the orders at issue in this appeal and has not cited any relevant authority demonstrating Jay’s entitlement to relief, we deem him to have waived all issues on appeal. Additionally, since the only claims Jay makes in his briefs are those seeking to collaterally attack the 2008 order, we find such claims to be barred by the doctrine of claim preclusion. Therefore, we affirm.
Filed May 13, 2020
View Opinion No. 18-2116
View Summary for Case No. 18-2116
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Webster County, Angela L. Doyle, Judge. CONVICTION AFFIRMED, SENTENCE VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING.2 Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ. Opinion by May, J. (11 pages)
Following a jury trial, Shanna Dessinger was convicted of child endangerment. She appeals arguing (1) hearsay was improperly admitted, (2) her Confrontation Clause rights were violated, (3) trial counsel was ineffective, and (4) the district court failed to make an ability-to-pay determination before imposing court costs. OPINION HOLDS: We affirm Dessinger’s conviction. We vacate the restitution portion of her sentencing order and remand for resentencing.
Filed May 13, 2020
View Opinion No. 18-2197
View Summary for Case No. 18-2197
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Henry W. Latham II, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Tabor, P.J., May, J., and Danilson, S.J. Opinion by Danilson, S.J. (18 pages).
Derris Swift appeals his convictions of intimidation with a dangerous weapon, willful injury resulting in serious injury, possession of marijuana, and attempt to commit murder. OPINION HOLDS: We find the district court did not abuse its discretion by admitting certain exhibits that were used to impeach the prior inconsistent statements of witnesses. Swift has not shown he received ineffective assistance of counsel due to counsel’s failure to (1) raise an objection based on State v. Turecek, 456 N.W.2d 219, 225 (Iowa 1990); (2) object on hearsay grounds to evidence used to test a witness’s memory; and (3) request a more specific instruction on the use of impeachment evidence. Additionally, the plain-error rule is not recognized in Iowa. We affirm Swift’s convictions.
Filed May 13, 2020
View Opinion No. 19-0048
View Summary for Case No. 19-0048
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeanie K. Vaudt, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ. Opinion by Schumacher, J. (11 pages)
The Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) revoked a man’s driving privileges pursuant to a habitual-offender statute. He appeals from the district court’s denial of his petition for judicial review. OPINION HOLDS: The appellant’s argument that the subsection of Iowa’s habitual-offender statute pertaining to eluding contains an element not present in Iowa’s eluding statute was not raised to IDOT and is therefore unpreserved. Iowa precedent allows IDOT to count a deferred judgment as a “final conviction” for purposes of Iowa Code section 321.555(1) (2018), and it is the date of an offense, not the date of conviction, that counts for purposes of the time periods enumerated in section 321.555(1).
Filed May 13, 2020
View Opinion No. 19-0083
View Summary for Case No. 19-0083
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Floyd County, Colleen Weiland, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Mullins, J., and Potterfield, S.J. Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J. (9 pages)
Richard Cortez appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief, contending that his Brady rights were violated, the State committed prosecutorial misconduct, and his counsel was ineffective for various reasons. OPINION HOLDS: We affirm.