May 2020 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Buena Vista County, Nancy L. Whittenburg, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  Dissent by May, J. (13 pages)

            Santos Rosales Martinez appeals the district court’s summary dismissal of his third application for postconviction relief (PCR) following his 2002 second-degree sexual abuse conviction, contending (1) his PCR counsel was ineffective in “not communicating with [him] at any time,” (2) the court “erred in hearing the State’s pre-answer motion to dismiss prior to [his] being notified that an attorney had been appointed to represent him,” and (3) the failure of the department of corrections to admit [him] to the sex offender treatment program was “a loss of the accrual of earned time” and “a substantial deprivation of his liberty interest.”  OPINION HOLDS: We find the first issue dispositive, and we reverse and remand the dismissal of the postconviction-relief application.  DISSENT ASSERTS: I respectfully dissent.  The record and briefing are not sufficiently developed for us to decide Rosales Martinez’s ineffective-assistance claims.  We should affirm and preserve his claims for development in a future postconviction-relief proceeding.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Washington County, Joel D. Yates, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by May, J. (7 pages)

            Greg Schindler appeals his convictions for ongoing criminal activity and first-degree theft.  He claims he received ineffective assistance of counsel.  OPINION HOLDS: Schindler’s counsel was not ineffective.  So we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Mark D. Cleve, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (12 pages)

            A defendant appeals from convictions on two counts of sex-offender-registry violations.  OPINION HOLDS: We reject the defendant’s arguments under the Iowa Rules of Criminal Procedure as unpreserved.  With one narrow exception, we find the record insufficient to evaluate the ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims raised in Bell’s pro se brief and the brief of his appellate counsel.  We preserve these claims for possible future postconviction proceedings, and we reject any claim that the judge in this case should have recused himself or that the trial court abused its discretion in denying a motion to withdraw.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, John D. Telleen, Judge.  CONVICTIONS AFFIRMED, SENTENCE VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Blane, S.J.  (14 pages)

            The defendant appeals his convictions for willful injury causing bodily injury and assault with a dangerous weapon.  He contends the trial court erred in overruling his motion for judgment of acquittal challenging the sufficiency of the evidence on specific intent, denying his motions for new trial and in arrest of judgment, and imposing court costs without adequately considering his reasonable ability to pay.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the convictions but remand for resentencing as to Oliver’s reasonable ability to pay court costs and correctional fees. 

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

            A father contends the “unilateral actions and inactions” of his former wife prompted the district court’s modification of the physical care of their two daughters.  The father seeks to return to their shared-care arrangement and believes the court should hold the mother in contempt.  OPINION HOLDS: Because it is appropriate to modify custody when shared custody provisions incorporated into the decree “have not evolved as envisioned by either of the parties or the court” or when the parents simply “cannot cooperate or communicate in dealing with their children,” we find the mother showed a substantial change in circumstances to justify modification.  Next, because the father did not prove the mother willfully violated the original decree, the mother cannot  be held in contempt.  We affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Kossuth County, Carl J. Petersen, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, and REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and May, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (11 pages)

            This case involves a dispute over a farm lease.  The lease includes an attorney-fee clause.  On appeal, WMG, L.C. claims the district court abused its discretion by denying its request for attorney fees but awarding attorney fees in favor of NCJC, Inc.  Opinion holds: (1) For purposes of the lease’s attorney-fee clause, “the prevailing party” was NCJC, not WMG.  So WMG was not entitled to attorney fees.  (2) Iowa Code section 622.25 (2017) did not preclude NCJC from recovering attorney fees.  (3) Under Brockhouse v. State, 449 N.W.2d 380, 381 (Iowa 1989), Iowa Code section 677.10 precluded NCJC from recovering attorney fees incurred for services provided after the time of WMG’s offer to confess.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Scott D. Rosenberg, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Vaitheswaran, Doyle, Tabor, Mullins, Greer, Schumacher, and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  Partial Dissents by Vaitheswaran and Tabor, JJ.  (39 pages)

Jasmaine Warren appeals following her convictions of second-offense operating while intoxicated (OWI) and driving with a revoked license.  On appeal, Warren challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the OWI conviction and argues her counsel rendered ineffective assistance in failing to seek suppression of evidence on the basis that she was subjected to an unconstitutional seizure.  OPINION HOLDS: We reverse Warren’s OWI conviction and remand the matter for a new trial on that count.  We find trial counsel was not ineffective as alleged and thus affirm Warren’s conviction of driving while revoked.  PARTIAL DISSENT ASSERTS: I concur in part and dissent in part.  I concur in Part A of the majority opinion.  I dissent from Part B of the majority opinion.  I would decline to reach the ineffective-assistance-of-counsel issue for the reasons stated in footnote 18 of the dissent.  PARTIAL DISSENT ASSERTS: I respectfully dissent on the ineffective-assistance-of-counsel issue.  It is ill-advised to reject Warren’s complaint on direct appeal—and, in doing so, decide a question of first impression in Iowa—without a full airing of the facts bearing on the suppression challenge.  But if compelled to decide the question on the record we do have, I would find Warren proved by a preponderance of the evidence that her counsel breached a duty by not moving to suppress and prejudice resulted.  Warren’s parking violation did not authorize police to seize her in place of issuing a ticket.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, Bethany J. Currie, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J. (5 pages)

            Roger McGhee appeals his convictions of third-degree sexual abuse, lascivious acts with a child, and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse.  McGhee (1) challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the findings of guilt; (2) contends the district court abused its discretion in admitting certain exhibits that he contends were irrelevant or unfairly prejudicial; and (3) argues the district court considered “unproven offenses when imposing consecutive sentences.”  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm McGhee’s judgment and sentence.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dickinson County, Nancy L. Whittenburg, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (12 pages)

            A buyer appeals from the district court’s ruling denying specific performance of a real estate contract and awarding the sellers the deposited earnest money, contending the trial court incorrectly interpreted the real estate contract.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding no error, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Robert A. Hutchison, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Doyle, J., and Mahan, S.J.  Opinion by Doyle, J.  (3 pages)

            Lee Simpson appeals his conviction for failure to comply with the sex offender registry, second offense, arguing his counsel was ineffective in allowing him to plead guilty without a factual basis.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the record shows a factual basis for his plea, Simpson has failed to establish his counsel was ineffective. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Louisa County, Emily Dean, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (7 pages)

            A father appeals the termination of his parental rights to his child under Iowa Code chapter 600A (2018), arguing he did not abandon the child and that termination is not in the child’s best interests.  OPINION HOLDS: We agree with the district court that the mother proved the father abandoned the child and that termination was in the child’s best interests. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Robert J. Blink and Lawrence P. McLellan, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (6 pages)

            An offender appeals the sentencing orders imposing correction costs arguing the court did not subject the fees to a reasonable-ability-to-pay analysis.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the sheriff did not specify a wish to include the claimed fees as items of restitution, the sentencing court correctly entered the claims as civil judgments under relevant statutes and case law.  We affirm the awards.