August 2020 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

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

            Bobby Brock appeals certain modifications to the decree that dissolved his marriage to Jill Ketelson.  OPINION HOLDS: Bobby claims the district court’s modification order is contrary to a stipulation entered by the parties.  But the stipulation was not consistent with the children’s best interests.  So the district court was not required to enforce it.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Crawford County, Duane E. Hoffmeyer, Judge.  AFFIRMED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (8 pages)

            A father appeals an order awarding physical care of a child to the mother, determining child support, crafting the visitation schedule, and ordering the father to pay the mother’s attorney fees.  The mother requests appellate attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm on all issues.  We remand for the district court to award reasonable appellate attorney fees to the mother.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Colin J. Witt, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (7 pages)

            The father appeals the termination of his parental rights to his child, E.G., born in late 2017.  The juvenile court terminated the father’s rights under Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(h) (2019).  The father challenges the statutory ground and maintains the loss of his rights is not in the child’s best interests.  OPINION HOLDS: Because E.G. could not be returned to the father’s care at the time of the termination hearing and it is in the child’s best interests, we affirm the termination of the father’s parental rights.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Plymouth County, Daniel P. Vakulskas, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (11 pages)

            A father appeals the juvenile court’s termination of his parental rights in a private termination action.  OPINION HOLDS: We find clear and convincing evidence supports both grounds for termination, termination is in the children’s best interests, the father did not establish his counsel provided ineffective assistance, and his due process rights were not violated.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, Bethany J. Currie, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (12 pages)

            Laura Imsland, formerly Laura Dewhurst, appeals the district court order modifying the physical-care provisions of the dissolution decree between her and Bryan Dewhurst.  She also asks for an award of appellate attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court order and decline to award appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Monroe County, William Owens, Associate Juvenile Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (9 pages)

            A mother appeals the juvenile court order terminating her parental rights to her children.  OPINION HOLDS: The mother does not challenge the statutory ground relied on by the district court, and, consequently, we affirm the ground the juvenile court relied on for termination.  We reject the mother’s argument concerning reasonable efforts and find that the children’s best interests require termination of the mother’s parental rights.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Cynthia S. Finley, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., May, J., and Vogel, S.J.  Opinion by Vogel, S.J.  (7 pages)

            A father appeals the termination of his parental rights.  He asserts the grounds for termination were not met, termination is not in the children’s best interests, and his bond with the children precludes termination.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the father has shown little or no progress in being able to safely parent the children, we agree with the juvenile court and affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeffrey Farrell, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (6 pages)

            T.M. appeals an order for his involuntary hospitalization, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the court’s conclusion he is seriously mentally impaired.  OPINION HOLDS: On our review, we find no serious or substantial doubts about the correctness of the district court’s conclusion drawn from the evidence that T.M. was seriously mentally impaired within the meaning of Iowa Code section 229.1(20)(c) (2020).  As such, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Harrison County, Jennifer A. Benson, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (12 pages)

            A mother appeals termination of her parental rights to the children in this private termination proceeding.  OPINION HOLDS: On our de novo review, we agree the ground of abandonment was established by clear and convincing evidence and termination is the children’s best interest.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Plymouth County, Andrew Smith, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (10 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights.  OPINION HOLDS: We find no abuse of discretion in the juvenile court denying the mother’s request for withdrawal and replacement of her attorney, we agree with the juvenile court’s three-step analysis finding termination appropriate, and we deny the mother’s request for additional time to work toward reunification. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dallas County, Virginia Cobb, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (4 pages)

            A father and mother separately appeal the termination of their parental rights to two children.  The father contends the State failed to prove the grounds for termination cited by the district court and termination was not in the children’s best interests.  The mother contends she should have been granted a six-month extension to regain custody of the children.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the termination of the parents’ parental rights to the children.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Rachael E. Seymour, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, P.J.  (5 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her children.  OPINION HOLDS: Clear and convincing evidence establishes the ground for termination under section 232.116(1)(f) (2020) given the mother’s unresolved substance-use issues.  The evidence also shows termination is in the children’s best interests and terminating the mother’s parental rights would not be detrimental to the children.  We affirm.