September 2020 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clinton County, Patrick McElyea (plea) and Henry W. Latham II (sentencing), Judges.  CONVICTIONS AFFIRMED, SENTENCE VACATED, AND CASE REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (3 pages)

            Cassandra Doran appeals her convictions and sentence following guilty pleas to willful injury causing serious injury with a dangerous weapon and three counts of second-degree criminal mischief.  She challenges the court’s order for restitution and attacks her plea via an ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim.  OPINION HOLDS: We vacate the restitution portion of the defendant’s sentence and remand for resentencing under the appropriate reasonable-ability-to-pay analysis.  We preserve the ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim for possible postconviction-relief proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeffrey D. Farrell, Judge.  CONVICTION AFFIRMED, SENTENCE VACATED IN PART, JAIL-FEE ORDERS VACATED, AND CASE REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (4 pages)

            Babus Conrad appeals the district court’s entry of judgment and sentence order, contending the district court erred when it required him to pay restitution without first assessing his reasonable ability to pay.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the conviction, vacate the sentence in part, vacate the jail-fee orders, and remand the case to the district court with directions.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Scott D. Rosenberg, Judge.  CONVICTION AFFIRMED; SENTENCE AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Danilson, S.J.  Opinion by Danilson, S.J. (11 pages)

            Timothy Leachman appeals his conviction for first-degree burglary.  OPINION HOLDS:  The charge of first-degree burglary did not violate the speedy indictment rule.  Leachman did not show he received ineffective assistance based on defense counsel’s failure to raise a due process claim.  There is substantial evidence in the record to support Leachman’s conviction and his conviction is not contrary to the weight of the evidence.  We affirm Leachman’s conviction.  We vacate the portion of the sentencing order relating to restitution and remand to the district court on this issue.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Robert B. Hanson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J. (6 pages)

            Magai Anai Kur appeals his convictions of first-degree murder, first-degree robbery, and first-degree burglary, claiming his counsel provided ineffective assistance.  OPINION HOLDS:  Anai Kur fails to establish counsel breached an essential duty and his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim thus fails.  We therefore affirm.

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

            Plaintiffs appeal the district court’s decision granting summary judgment to Central Iowa Hospital Corporation, operating as Iowa Methodist Medical Center (IMMC), on their claims of negligence and infliction of emotional distress arising from the actions of a pharmacy technician.  OPINION HOLDS: The appellants concede that they were not actually exposed to a communicable disease.  We conclude their claims for emotional distress are too remote and speculative for them to be entitled to relief and were unreasonable as a matter of law.  We conclude the district court properly granted summary judgment to IMMC.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Mark D. Cleve, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., Schumacher, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Carr, S.J.  (4 pages)

            Loren Long appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: Because Long has failed to show he received ineffective assistance of trial counsel, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, John C. Nelson, District Associate Judge.  CONVICTION AFFIRMED; SENTENCING ORDER VACATED AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (5 pages)

            George McKenery appeals his conviction, following a guilty plea, of possession of a controlled substance and the restitution provisions of the sentencing order.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm McKenery’s conviction, finding his plea was supported by a factual basis and counsel was not ineffective for allowing him to plead guilty and waive his right to file a motion in arrest of judgment.  Because not all items of second-category restitution were before the court and no final restitution order was in place, the purportedly enforceable orders for restitution for correctional fees and attorney fees were improper.  We vacate the sentencing order and remand for entry of a corrected sentencing order and further proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jasper County, Thomas P. Murphy and Glenn E. Pille, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (24 pages)

            Joel Green Case appeals from his conviction for first-degree theft, asserting there is insufficient evidence to support the conviction.  He also contends the court erred by instructing the jury on aiding and abetting, in denying his request for a Franks hearing, and in denying his motion to suppress evidence obtained upon execution of search warrants.  Case alternatively asserts an ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim.  OPINION HOLDS: There is substantial evidence the property Case was selling was stolen or he knew or should have known the property was stolen to support the conviction.  The court did not err in instructing the jury on aiding and abetting, in denying Case’s request for a Franks hearing, or in denying the motion to suppress.  We do not address Case’s ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Stuart P. Werling, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (15 pages)

            Deondra Thomas appeals his convictions for first-degree murder and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.  He (1) challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his first-degree murder conviction, (2) claims the district court abused its discretion in admitting certain evidence, and (3) requests we remand to the district court so he can challenge the composition of the jury venire.  OPINION HOLDS: Sufficient evidence supported Thomas’s murder conviction.  Thomas did not preserve error on his claim that certain evidence amounted in improper prior-bad-acts evidence.  We preserve his related ineffective-assistance claim for possible postconviction-relief proceedings.  To the extent Thomas claims the prejudicial value of the challenged evidence substantially outweighed its probative value, we disagree.  And because Thomas failed to establish any element of his fair cross-section claim in the district court, we decline to remand for further development in light of recent changes in caselaw as to some elements. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jasper County, Thomas P. Murphy and Glenn E. Pille, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (4 pages)

            Christina Marie Britt appeals from her conviction for first-degree theft.  OPINION HOLDS: Because there is substantial evidence Britt knew or reasonably should have known the items possessed were stolen, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jasper County, Thomas P. Murphy and Glenn Pille, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (5 pages)

            Christopher Michael Retman appeals from his conviction for first-degree theft.  OPINION HOLDS: Because there is substantial evidence Retman knew or reasonably should have known the items possessed were stolen, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Buena Vista County, David A. Lester, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Tabor, J., and Gamble, S.J.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (7 pages)

            Joseph Smith appeals the district court’s denial of his postconviction-relief application, claiming his counsel (1) should have challenged his competency to enter the plea and (2) should have explained the special sentence of lifetime parole.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court did not err when it denied Smith’s ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims.  Smith’s categorical challenge to his sentence lacks merit, and Smith’s attorney could not have been effective in failing to raise it.  We affirm the district court’s denial of Smith’s postconviction-relief application.