2020 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Robert B. Hansen, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (8 pages)

            Thomas Yarges pled guilty to third-degree criminal mischief, two counts of driving while barred, and stalking.  Yarges asks that we vacate his convictions, sentences, and judgments and remand his case for further proceedings based on his claim the district court improperly applied his plea deal.  He frames his case under a theory of ineffective assistance of counsel.  OPINION HOLDS: With little information in the record about the interplay between two written plea agreements, we do not know if Yarges got the benefit of his bargain or if his counsel should have objected at sentencing.  Thus, we are unable to rule on this ineffective-assistance claim at this stage of the proceeding.  We affirm Yarges’s convictions and sentences but preserve his claim of ineffective assistance of counsel for possible postconviction-relief proceedings. 

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

            Broderick Family, L.P. appeals an order granting the City of Waukee’s motion for summary judgment.  OPINION HOLDS: We agree with the district court that no taking occurred.  So the court was correct in granting Waukee’s motion for summary judgment.  We affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Mahaska County, Lucy J. Gamon, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (19 pages)

            Following a conviction of second-degree murder, Luke Van Hemert appeals the district court’s denial of immunity pursuant to Iowa’s stand-your-ground law contained in Iowa Code section 704.13 (2018).  Van Hemert also alleges his counsel was ineffective for failing to object to a malice aforethought inference jury instruction.  He argues the evidence is insufficient to support the jury’s finding that he lacked justification and acted with malice aforethought; the jury’s verdict is contrary to the weight of the evidence; and the trial court erred in excluding certain impeachment evidence.  OPINION HOLDS: We find no error in the trial court’s denial of Van Hemert’s request for a pretrial immunity hearing.  We find substantial evidence supports the jury’s findings that Van Hemert acted without justification and with malice aforethought and the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying Van Hemert’s motions for new trial. We find the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding certain impeachment evidence. Lastly, we are unable to address Van Hemert’s ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim on direct appeal.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Coleman McAllister, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, P.J.  (9 pages)

            In this postconviction-relief (PCR) appeal, Shawn Lee contends his trial counsel and PCR counsel were ineffective.  OPINION HOLDS: After a de novo review, we find no merit to Lee’s arguments against his trial counsel.  Because the record is inadequate to allow us to decide whether PCR counsel breached a duty and whether prejudice resulted, we cannot resolve this new claim on appeal. We affirm the PCR court’s order denying Lee relief.  

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, John Telleen, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (5 pages)

            Michael Eugene Horlas appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief, contending his sentence of life imprisonment amounts to cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eight Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, section 17 of the Iowa Constitution.  OPINION HOLDS: We find no Iowa case law that supports Horlas’s argument to extend the holding of Atkins v. Virginia, 536 U.S. 304, 321 (2002)—finding it unconstitutional to impose the death penalty on intellectually disabled defendants—to mentally-ill persons serving a life sentence.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Craig E. Block, Associate Probate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, J.  (14 pages)

            At issue is whether a document Craig Sandahl signed the day before his death is an amendment to the Sandahl Trust 2017 (“Trust”) or a letter of instruction to his estate planning attorneys.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the October 13, 2017, document to be ambiguous and void for vagueness.  And after reviewing the record, we, like the district court, do not find persuasive extrinsic evidence to resolve the multiple ambiguities within the document.  Thus, we agree with the district court that the October 13, 2017, document is not an amendment to the Sandahl Trust 2017.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Bradley J. Harris, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (7 pages)

            Marcus Gamblin appeals the dismissal of his application for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: Gamblin claims he was entitled to relief because (1) trial counsel elicited testimony about the mandatory minimum sentence for first-degree robbery; and (2) there was a typographical error in the jury instructions.  We disagree.  The district court was right to dismiss Gamblin’s PCR application.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Monona County, Julie Schumacher, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and Greer, JJ.  Schumacher, J., takes no part.  Opinion by Doyle, P.J.  (3 pages)

            Randy Lee appeals his convictions on two counts of third-degree sexual abuse.  OPINION HOLDS: Under Iowa Code section 814.28 (2019), we may affirm a general verdict of guilt if the one of the alternative theories is supported by the evidence.  Lee challenges only one of the theories submitted to the jury, and ample evidence supports a finding of guilt on other theories.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Floyd County, Peter B. Newell, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (16 pages)

            Chase Wilson appeals his conviction for assault with intent to commit sexual abuse.  On appeal, Wilson claims multiple errors, including (1) various forms of ineffective assistance of counsel; (2) the admission of a police interview Wilson gave; (3) the district court’s refusal to admit certain deposition testimony; (4) the district court’s refusal to admit certain testimony by Wilson’s mother; and (5) the admission of portions of a forensic interviewer’s testimony.  OPINION HOLDS: On our own motion, we find we do not have jurisdiction to address Wilson’s ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims on this direct appeal.  The district court correctly held Wilson’s interview at the police station was not custodial and that the State met its burden to show Wilson gave the interview voluntarily.  Wilson failed to meet his burden of establishing unavailability, so there was no error in refusing to admit D.B.’s deposition testimony in lieu of his live testimony.  The district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to admit portions of the mother’s testimony.  And the district court did not abuse its discretion by overruling Wilson’s objections to the forensic interviewer’s testimony.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Benton County, Christopher L. Bruns, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (5 pages)

            Ryan Wieneke appeals the sentence imposed following his guilty plea to the charge of domestic abuse assault while displaying a dangerous weapon.  Wieneke argues the district court abused its discretion by considering facts outside the record, as evidenced by a remark the district court made when sentencing him.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court did not rely on an improper factor when sentencing Wieneke.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Chickasaw County, Richard D. Stochl, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (5 pages)

            Christopher Seehase appeals the child custody and property distribution provisions of the decree dissolving his marriage to Ashley Seehase, contending shared care is not in the children’s best interests and objecting to the division of assets and liabilities.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Henry County, Clinton R. Boddicker, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (9 pages)

            A mother appeals the juvenile court order denying her petition to terminate a father’s parental rights to three minor children.  On appeal, the mother (1) objects to the juvenile court’s ruling admitting various exhibits offered by the father and (2) argues the father abandoned the children within the meaning of Iowa Code section 600A.8 (2019) because the father failed to maintain contact with the children.  OPINION HOLDS: The juvenile court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the exhibits.  The mother prevented the father from visiting or maintaining contact with the children.  Therefore, she failed to meet her burden to prove the father abandoned the children within the meaning of Iowa Code section 600A.8(3).  We affirm.