June 2020 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, John D. Telleen, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Doyle and May, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  Special Concurrence by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (7 pages)

            Lawrence McCoy appeals the summary disposition of his second application for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: Iowa Code sections 822.3 and 822.8 (2010) required dismissal.  And no fact question precluded summary disposition.  SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: I would affirm the summary dismissal of McCoy’s postconviction-relief application, but I would find it unnecessary to address section 822.8, which presumes a timely filed application. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Kellyann Lekar, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Mullins and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (17 pages)

            Natalie Kipp appeals the district court order granting Douglas Stanford a new trial under Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.1004.   On appeal, Kipp first argues Stanford’s two objections during closing arguments and two motions for mistrial after plaintiff’s counsel’s closing argument and after rebuttal could not preserve his motion for new trial because defense counsel did not object at all during the rebuttal argument, and his motion for mistrial after the case was submitted to the jury was untimely because it was submitted after the jury had begun deliberating.  Second, Kipp argues the district court abused its discretion by granting Stanford’s motion for new trial.  OPINION HOLDS: Error was preserved.  Under the circumstances of this case and in view of the significant deference given to the district court, we cannot say the district court abused its discretion in determining plaintiff’s counsel’s statements were misconduct, and we cannot say the district court’s prejudice determination rested on clearly untenable or unreasonable grounds.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Richard H. Davidson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J. (16 pages)

            Vance Archilee Good appeals from his conviction for first-degree murder, contending there is insufficient evidence of robbery, malice aforethought, or premeditation to support the conviction.  He also asserts the court abused its discretion in allowing a photograph of one of his tattoos to be viewed by the jury.  Finally, he maintains the court erred in allowing “backdoor hearsay.”  OPINION HOLDS: Because there is substantial evidence to support the conviction, the trial court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the photograph, and we are not persuaded that the so-called backdoor hearsay “undermined Good’s sole defense of self-defense” and denied him a fair trial, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Patrick H. Tott, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Opinion by Potterfield, S.J.  (5 pages)

            Joseph Quezada Sierra challenges the imposition of a five-year prison sentence following his violation of the terms of his probation.  He argues it was improper for the court to consider his upcoming sentence in Nebraska when deciding probation was not appropriate here.  OPINION HOLDS: Because it is not improper for the sentencing court to consider the defendant’s ability to comply with terms of probation in determining whether to grant probation, Quezada Sierra has not shown the district court considered an improper factor.  We affirm.  

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Boone County, Steven J. Oeth, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., May, J., and Scott, S.J.  Opinion by Scott, S.J.  (8 pages)

            Randall Bielfelt appeals his convictions of four counts of second-degree sexual abuse and four counts of third-degree sexual abuse, claiming his counsel rendered ineffective assistance in various respects.  OPINION HOLDS: Having concluded counsel was not ineffective as alleged, we affirm Bielfelt’s criminal convictions.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Warren County, Kevin Parker, District Associate Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Mullins and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, Judge. (8 pages)

            Mary Strickler appeals her conviction of conspiracy to commit theft.  She argues (1) insufficient evidence was presented in support of conviction; (2) the trial court erred in denying motions to dismiss; (3) the district court issued an errant jury instruction; (4) inadmissible hearsay evidence was admitted; and (5) the inadmissible hearsay evidence was also in violation of Strickler’s constitutional rights pursuant to both the United States and Iowa constitutions.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the evidence insufficient and reverse and remand to the district court for entry of judgment of acquittal.  We offer no opinion on any other issue raised on appeal.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Sarah Crane, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, J.  (6 pages)

            Tim Watts and International Workshop LLC appeal the district court order entering judgment in favor of Joseph Morrissey in the amount of $154,300 on his claim of fraudulent misrepresentation and omission.  OPINION HOLDS: Because sufficient evidence supports each of the elements required to prove actionable fraud, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Lars G. Anderson, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON CONDITION AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.  Heard by Tabor, P.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J. (19 pages)

            Curtis Jones appeals his conviction for first-degree murder following a trial where he represented himself.  He contends his waiver of counsel was not knowing, voluntary, and intelligent, and the State violated his right to an impartial jury under the Sixth Amendment.  OPINION HOLDS: Viewing the record in its totality, we find the district court’s inquiry of Jones was adequate to protect his trial rights.  But we remand his claim that the jury did not represent a fair cross section of the community for further development under new case law from our supreme court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Warren County, Paul R. Huscher, Judge.   AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (5 pages)

            Swell Liquor, LLC appeals the denial of its motion for sanctions and attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: We discern no abuse of discretion in the court’s refusal to find a violation of the rules and its refusal to impose sanctions or award attorney fees.

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

            Stephen Embree appeals his conviction of sexual abuse in the second degree.  He argues there was no sexual purpose to his contact with the child.  The State argues sufficient evidence was presented to the jury regarding Embree’s sexual purpose.  OPINION HOLDS: On our review of the record, sufficient evidence was presented to support Embree’s conviction. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Celine Gogerty, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (17 pages)

            Emilio Serrano challenges several aspects of the decree dissolving his marriage to Trisha Peckosh.  He contests the grant of sole legal custody and physical care of their four children to Trisha.  Emilio also claims the district court should not have ordered him to pay child or spousal support.  And he contends the court failed to do equity in dividing the marital assets and in awarding attorney fees to Trisha.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the evidence demonstrates, the parties cannot be civil in making basic decisions, and Trisha’s established ability to care for the children, we affirm the award of custody to Trisha.  Next, because joint physical care is not appropriate, and Emilio is overwhelmed by supervising all four children at the same time, physical care of the children should remain with Trisha.  Also, because it is proper for the court to consider the therapist’s recommendation and the provision highlighted by Emilio contramands In re Marriage of Stephens, 810 N.W.2d 523, 531 n.3 (Iowa Ct. App. 2012), we remand for modification of the decree to strike the language making visitation contingent on the opinion of the therapist.  Next, because the district court properly used the child support guidelines in setting Emilio’s obligations, we affirm the child support order.  Also, because rehabilitative alimony achieves equity between the parties, we affirm the rehabilitative alimony for ten years.  Next, because we find the better mechanism to secure Emilio’s future performance is to impose a judicial or equitable lien on his real property, we remand for this modification of the decree.  Next, because find no error in the court’s valuations and we defer to the district court’s finding Emilio hid or depleted marital assets, we find the distribution of assets and debts to be equitable to both parties.  Also, because Emilio has greater ability to pay reasonable attorney fees, we affirm Trisha’s attorney fees claim.  Last, because of the disparity in incomes, as well as Trisha’s success in defending the major issues raised in Emilio’s appeal, we remand with instruction for the district court to determine a reasonable amount for the attorney fees on appeal.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Des Moines County, Michael J. Schilling, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., Greer, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Greer, J. (5 pages)

            Calvon Miles appeals from his convictions for willful injury causing bodily injury and carrying weapons.  Miles contends he received ineffective assistance from trial counsel when counsel failed to object to the marshalling instruction for willful injury causing bodily injury, which did not include all of the necessary elements.  OPINION HOLDS: Under these facts, Miles cannot establish he was prejudiced by counsel’s failure to object to the instruction.  Therefore, we affirm his convictions.