2020 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

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

            Ary appeals the denial of his postconviction-relief (PCR) application.  He argues he was provided ineffective assistance of counsel based on his trial counsel’s failure to complete discovery and trial counsel’s handling of jury voire dire.  OPINION HOLDS: Ary has not shown prejudice resulted from trial counsel’s failure to complete discovery.  He also did not meet his burden to prove ineffective assistance of counsel with respect to the jury-selection allegations.  Thus, we affirm the denial of Ary’s PCR application. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Mitchell County, James M. Drew, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.  Heard by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (14 pages)

            The State appeals from the district court’s order granting Mark Retterath a new trial for solicitation to commit murder following a remand in 2017, when we instructed the district court to conduct an in camera review of mental-health records of two State’s witnesses.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we did not contemplate one of the witness’s mental-health records would be unavailable when we issued the first remand, we clarify the scope of Iowa Code section 622.10(4) (2016) in this appeal.  Finding no language in the statute entitling Retterath to a retrial based on the unavailability of a witness’s records, we reverse the order granting a new trial.  But we remand again for the court to conduct an in camera review of the other State’s witness, as directed in the first remand order. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Linda M. Fangman, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (9 pages)

            Jerry Wayne Evans Jr. appeals his convictions for three counts of sexual abuse in the third degree, contending the district court abused its discretion in admitting evidence of text messages extracted from the victim’s cell phone over his best-evidence objection.  He also argues the evidentiary ruling violated his due process rights under the U.S. Constitution and Iowa Constitution.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding no abuse of discretion in the court’s ruling on the admissibility of evidence, we affirm.  And we are unable to reach Evans’s constitutional claim because he did not preserve the issue for our review. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Mary E. Howes, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Scott, S.J.  Opinion by Scott, S.J.  (8 pages)

                Najari Allen appeals his convictions on two counts of willful injury causing serious injury and one count of intimidation with a dangerous weapon and the imposition of consecutive sentences on the willful-injury charges.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm Allen’s convictions and the imposition of consecutive sentences.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Wapello County, Myron L. Gookin, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED TO THE AGENCY.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (12 pages)

Swift Pork Company challenged a citation alleging it violated of Iowa’s occupational safety and health act and imposing penalties.  The Employment Appeal Board (EAB) dismissed Swift Pork’s challenge as untimely.  Swift Pork sought judicial review.  The district court reversed the EAB’s decision, finding the agency erred by ignoring its prior practice or precedent in measuring the fifteen-day period for Swift Pork to appeal.  OPINION HOLDS: The EAB’s decision dismissing Swift Pork’s contest of the citation must be reversed, as the EAB’s action was inconsistent with its prior precedent without adequate justification being provided for such inconsistency.  The matter is remanded to the EAB for further proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clayton County, Richard D. Stochl, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (11 pages)

            Thomas and Lori Bunting appeal the district court’s ruling on their application to enforce the terms of a written easement.  OPINION HOLDS: With one slight modification, we affirm the court’s equitable decree.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Kelly Ann Lekar, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (9 pages)

            Danielle Putman appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Shawn and Amy Walther on her claims of fraudulent and negligent misrepresentation on the seepage of water into the home she bought from them.  OPINION HOLDS: Because Putman failed to designate an expert witness on the issue of causation and damages, we find the court did not err in granting summary judgment.  We affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clayton County, John J. Bauercamper, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (6 pages)

            Andre Ruby appeals the grant of summary judgment in favor of his former employer, Central Community Hospital (CCH), on his wrongful-discharge claim.  He claims he was fired in retaliation for reporting wrongdoing at CCH.  OPINION HOLDS: We find no error in the district court’s conclusion that Ruby failed to articulate a public policy that would protect his discharge from CCH.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Monica Zrinyi Wittig, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (3 pages)

                Property owner appeals a remand order issued in response to his petition for writ of certiorari.  OPINION HOLDS: Because certiorari proceedings may be remanded where the inferior tribunal has not proceeded according to law and the mistake may be corrected upon a further hearing, we affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Monica Zrinyi Wittig, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (2 pages)

            Property owner appeals a remand order issued in response to his petition for writ of certiorari.  OPINION HOLDS: Because certiorari proceedings may be remanded where the inferior tribunal has not proceeded according to law and the mistake may be corrected upon a further hearing, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Benton County, Cynthia S. Finley, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (9 pages)

            A father appeals following the juvenile court’s denial of his motion to terminate a guardianship to his child.  OPINION HOLDS: At this time, Iowa Code section 232D.503(2) (2020) does not require termination of the guardianship because (1) termination would be harmful to the child and (2) the child’s interest in continuation of the guardianship outweighs the interest of the father in termination. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dallas County, Randy V. Hefner, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (7 pages)

            David Koesters appeals from the decree dissolving his marriage to Meredith Koesters.  David contends (1) the district court’s spousal support award was inequitable and (2) the district court improperly modified the visitation schedule.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm as modified the court’s spousal support order and affirm the visitation schedule.