2020 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, David M. Porter, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (5 pages)

            Plaintiffs in a personal-injury case appeal from a district court order granting a defendant’s motion to transfer venue from Polk County to Harrison County.  OPINION HOLDS: One of the two defendants was a resident of Polk County, and thus venue was proper in Polk County in this personal injury action, pursuant to Iowa Code section 616.18 (2019).  The district court lacked discretion to transfer venue to Harrison County, and we therefore reverse.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Warren County, Terry Rickers, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (16 pages)

            Jane Doe pseudonymously appeals from the denial of her motion to expunge a criminal case from 2011, which held two forgery charges.  The case was one of three different case numbers holding forgery charges that arose in 2010.  The State sought to consolidate the three cases into a single case number, and the court granted that motion, amending the trial information in a case holding four charges to reflect a total of seven charges.  OPINION HOLDS: Interpreting Iowa Code section 901C.2(1)(a)(1) (2019) in light of our supreme court’s decision 2017 doing the same, we hold that the “transfer” of Doe’s charges from the instant case to the transferee case resulted in those charges being “otherwise dismissed” from the instant case.  Therefore, we reverse the district court’s order holding a lack of formal dismissal in the instant case precluded the application of section 901C.2(1)(a)(1), and we remand with instructions to grant Doe’s motion.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, David M. Porter, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Mullins and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (5 pages)

            Plaintiffs appeal from the district court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of defendants on the plaintiffs’ negligence suit, contending the district court “erroneously considered foreseeability as a factor to determine duty.”  OPINION HOLDS: Because foreseeability was not removed from the equation, we reverse the summary judgment ruling and remand for further proceedings. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Guthrie County, Richard B. Clogg, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (10 pages)

            Matthew Farber appeals his convictions for operating while intoxicated, failure to maintain control, and failure to obey a traffic control device.  OPINION HOLDS: There is substantial evidence in the record to support the convictions.  We affirm the convictions.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jasper County, Richard B. Clogg, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Schumacher, J., and Vogel, S.J.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (9 pages)

            A father appeals from a dissolution decree, arguing the district court acted inequitably by declining to award shared physical care.  The father also alleges the district court abused its discretion by directing him to pay $7500 of the petitioner’s attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the provisions of the dissolution decree pertaining to physical care to be in the minor child’s best interest.  However, we find the district court abused its discretion in awarding $7500 in attorney fees, as the amount awarded was over twice what petitioner testified was owed at the time of trial and the record lacks an attorney fee affidavit to the contrary.  Accordingly, we reduce the award of attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, William P. Kelly, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J. (2 pages)

            William Roland appeals district court orders granting applications for reimbursement of room and board fees.  He argues that because the sheriff’s department filed for reimbursement as a civil judgment, it should have filed a civil petition and the failure to do so violated his due process rights for failure of notice and an opportunity to be heard.  OPINION HOLDS: Civil petitions were not required, and the constitutional claim is not preserved for our review.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, George L. Stigler, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (4 pages)

            PeggySue McGee appeals the district court’s denial of her request for a civil domestic-abuse protective order.  OPINION HOLDS: We reverse and remand for further consideration by the district court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, DeDra L. Schroeder, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Mullins and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (4 pages)

            Justin Zobel appeals the dismissal of his postconviction-relief application.  He asserts a due process claim and contends he received ineffective assistance of counsel.  OPINION HOLDS: Zobel failed to preserve his due process claim and has not established his counsel breached an essential duty.  We affirm the dismissal of his application.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Patrick R. Grady, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (13 pages)

            A mother appeals from a district court order that transferred physical care of the minor child to the father.  OPINION HOLDS: Following entry of the divorce decree, the mother violated a provision of the decree by moving the minor child from the state.  After a finding of contempt, she moved again, and the record contains scant evidence of the conditions of her new residence and life.  In contrast, the father has remained in Cedar Rapids in stable housing and employment, and has respected the mother’s care provisions since entry of a contempt ruling.  We affirm the district court’s order transferring physical care to the father.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Greene County, Dale E. Ruigh, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by May, P.J., Greer, J., and Vogel, S.J.  Opinion by May, P.J.  (8 pages)

            Jeremy Orfield appeals his conviction of indecent contact with a child.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court was right to overrule Orfield’s hearsay objection.  And ample evidence supports the jury’s verdict.  So we affirm.

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

            Jack Losee Jr. seeks postconviction relief (PCR) based on claimed ineffective assistance of counsel.  OPINION HOLDS: Even if we apply the tolling principles of Allison v. State, 914 N.W.2d 866 (Iowa 2018), Losee did not show his current PCR application properly relates back to a prior application within the allowable time.  Therefore, the district court was correct in dismissing Losee’s claims as being time-barred.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dickinson County, Charles K. Borth, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Mullins and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (6 pages)

            Jami Manwarren appeals the district court’s denial of his petition to modify the decree dissolving his marriage to Kolbie Manwarren.  On appeal, Jami (1) challenges the court’s denial of his request to modify the physical care provision of the dissolution decree; (2) contends the court should not have imputed income to him in calculating child support; and (3) contends the court abused its discretion in ordering the payment of trial attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm.