2020 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Samantha Gronewald, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (14 pages)

            Plaintiffs appeal from the judgment entered upon a jury verdict awarding them damages on their negligence action against the defendant, raising several claims.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the instructions and verdict forms failed to explain the import of a dismissed third-party defendant’s inclusion, we conclude they were misleading and the plaintiffs were prejudiced.  We reverse and remand for new trial.  In light of our reversal and remand for retrial on the allocation-of-fault question, we find it unnecessary to address the remaining issues. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Chickasaw County, Richard D. Stochl, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., May, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Opinion by Potterfield, S.J.  (15 pages)

            Zachary Koehn was convicted of murder in the first degree and child endangerment resulting in death.  Both convictions involve his approximately four-month-old son.  On appeal, Koehn challenges those convictions, asserting (1) there is insufficient evidence to support the convictions; (2) the jury should not have been instructed it could infer malice from the commission of child endangerment resulting in serious injury; (3) his first-degree murder conviction should have merged into the child-endangerment conviction, leaving the “B” felony; and (4) the court abused its discretion in admitting some of the State’s evidence.  OPINION HOLDS: Having considered Koehn’s claims that were preserved and sufficiently formulated to enable review, we affirm his convictions for murder in the first degree and child endangerment resulting in death.  We preserve any claims of ineffective assistance for possible postconviction-relief proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Chad A. Kepros, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (14 pages)

            Jones appeals his conviction for first-degree murder, contending the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress his statements made to police officers at the sheriff’s office after his arrest.  He claims the statements were involuntary and thus could not be used against him at his trial.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the totality of the circumstances does not show that Jones’s will was overborne due to his intoxication, mental state, or coercive police tactics, we find that his statements to police were voluntary.  We reject Jones’s request for a new trial because the district court properly denied his motion to suppress those statements.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Hamilton County, James A. McGlynn, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., Greer, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Carr, S.J.  (3 pages)

            Jeremy Frye appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: Because Frye’s trial counsel did not breach a duty in advising him that the defense of compulsion was unavailable, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jackson County, Joel W. Barrows, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Mullins, P.J., and May and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (18 pages)

            Drew Mangler appeals following his conviction for murder in the second degree on four grounds: (1) insufficient evidence supports his conviction; (2) a jury instruction was misleading and confusing; (3) evidence was improperly excluded; and (4) a Brady violation entitles him to a new trial.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude (1) sufficient evidence supports the verdict; (2) Mangler’s appellate argument about jury instructions was not preserved and, moreover, he is not entitled to relief through the ineffective-assistance-of-counsel framework; (3) Mangler has not demonstrated the district court committed reversible error by excluding evidence; and (4) Mangler has shown no Brady violation.  So we affirm his conviction.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Stuart Werling, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Mullins and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (7 pages)

            Casey Smith appeals the district court’s rulings on Joshua and Natalie Bolkema’s petition for injunctive relief.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s grant of permanent injunctive relief in favor of the Bolkemas.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Jeffrey L. Harris, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Ahlers, J., and Danilson, S.J.  Opinion by Danilson, S.J.  (10 pages)

            Felix Quintero-Labrada appeals his convictions of operating while intoxicated and possession of a fictitious identification card.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude the district court properly denied Quintero-Labrada’s motion to suppress evidence of field sobriety tests.  As there was neither custody nor interrogation of Quintero-Labrada, we conclude a Miranda warning was not required at the time he performed the field sobriety tests.  He has not shown he received ineffective assistance of counsel.  Quintero-Labrada’s convictions are supported by substantial evidence in the record.  We affirm Quintero-Labrada’s convictions.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Webster County, Thomas J. Bice, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (9 pages)

           Kenneth Streit appeals from the district court’s review of the workers’ compensation commissioner ruling on remand finding Streit failed to establish his injury arose out of and in the course of his employment with Streit Construction, Inc.  OPINION HOLDS: We reverse and remand to the commissioner to consider whether Streit proved (1) Streit suffered cuts or scrapes at work and (2) the MRSA infection is a sequela of cuts or scrapes he suffered at work.   

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Emmet County, Don E. Courtney, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED ON APPEAL; AFFIRMED ON CROSS-APPEAL.  Heard by Mullins, P.J., and May and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (27 pages)

            StateLine Cooperative (StateLine) appeals the district court’s judicial-review ruling affirming the Iowa Property Assessment Appeal Board’s (IPAAB) administrative decisions following its review of the Emmet County Board of Review’s (ECBR) property-assessment determination.  StateLine argues (1) the district court lacked jurisdiction to consider the ECBR’s cross-appeal of IPAAB’s decision on judicial review, (2) the court erred in affirming IPAAB’s decision that certain structures were not exempt from taxation as “[m]achinery used in manufacturing establishments” pursuant to Iowa Code sections 427A.1(1)(e) and 427B.17(3) (2014), and (3) the court erred in concluding StateLine did not meet its evidentiary burden to value the exemption associated with the structures.  The ECBR cross-appeals, essentially arguing its original assessment was made in accordance with the Iowa Real Property Appraisal Manual and was therefore correct.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude some of the property constitutes machinery used in a manufacturing facility, which is exempt from taxation.  We reverse the district court’s affirmance of the IPAAB on that point.  Because we find sufficient evidence in the record to reach values of the claimed exemptions, we conclude the IPAAB and court erred when they declined to do so.  We provide valuations for the items we find exempt from taxation, and we remand to the district court for entry of an order consistent with this opinion.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, John C. Nelson, District Associate Judge.  SENTENCE VACATED IN PART AND REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (3 pages)

            Greg Redden appeals from a sentencing order’s requirement that he pay court costs.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court may not order restitution for costs without finding the defendant has a reasonable ability to pay costs.  We vacate the restitution provisions of the sentencing order and remand to the district court to order restitution consistent with State v. Albright, 925 N.W.2d 144, 158–62 (Iowa 2019).

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Palo Alto County, Nancy L. Whittenburg, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  Special Concurrence by Mullins, J.  (21 pages)

                Kathleen Brownell sued Scott Johnson, her former stepson, claiming he intentionally interfered with the decree dissolving her marriage to Scott’s father, Phillip Johnson, which awarded Kathleen $1600 in alimony each month.  The jury found in Kathleen’s favor and awarded her $59,800.  Scott appeals that judgment.  He maintains the court should have entered judgment for him—either by granting his motion for directed verdict or granting his motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict—because the court could conclude as a matter of law that his conduct was not improper given his role as trustee or as agent under power of attorney.  In the alternative, Scott argues the trial court should have granted his motion for new trial because there was “sufficient irregularity” in the proceedings to warrant a new trial.   The Iowa Academy of Trust and Estate Counsel sought leave to file an amicus brief, which our supreme court granted before transferring the case to us.  The amicus’s stated purpose in filing an appellate brief “is to assure that [our] disposition of the appeal does not result in the adoption of a standard that the trustee of a trust owes any duty to the creditor of a beneficiary of a trust when the trustee is making distributions to other beneficiaries of the trust in compliance with terms of the trust.”  OPINION HOLDS: The district court should have granted Scott’s motion for directed verdict regarding Kathleen’s claim. The law does not support the jury verdict, so it is improper and the verdict should be vacated.  Nothing in this ruling should translate into a duty on trustees to consider the interests of third-party creditors over the interests of the trust beneficiaries.  Finally, Kathleen is not entitled to appellate attorney fees in this case.  We reverse and remand for the district court to enter an order vacating the judgment and dismissing Kathleen’s petition with prejudice and assess costs to Kathleen.  SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: I specially concur to call into question the viability of Kathleen’s theory of the case.  Iowa has not recognized the tort of interference with contract rights arising out of a settlement agreement that has been approved and incorporated into a decree dissolving a marriage.

            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 Ahlers, J.  (4 pages)

            Lorenzo Quintanar appeals from the district court ruling denying his application for postconviction relief.  He challenges the district court’s decision regarding retroactive application of the federal and state case law relating to the obligation of counsel to advise a client of immigration consequences of a guilty plea.  OPINION HOLDS: Quintanar failed to convince the district court, as the fact-finder, that his trial counsel had not advised him of the immigration consequences of his guilty plea.  Because Quintanar does not challenge the factual and legal conclusions that are dispositive on the merits, the district court’s ruling must be affirmed.