2020 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Hardin County, Adria Kester, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, J.  (2 pages)

            Olympia Cooks challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting her convictions for one count of threat of terrorism and three counts of second-degree harassment.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the court never ruled on the motion for judgment of acquittal, Cook failed to preserve error for appellate review.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Romonda D. Belcher, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., Schumacher, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Carr, S.J.  (4 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her children.  OPINION HOLDS: Because there is no basis for finding the need for the children’s removal would be eliminated if we granted the mother additional time, we reject her request to delay permanency for six months.  Because the mother failed to make any changes to her situation in the ten months after the children’s removal, we agree termination is in the children’s best interests.  And even if a relative was a suitable placement for the children, it would not change the decision to terminate.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, Rustin T. Davenport, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (9 pages)

            The Plaintiffs appeal the district court decision annulling a writ of certiorari challenging the Board of Adjustment’s grant of an area variance to the intervenors.  OPINION HOLDS: We find no error in the district court’s conclusions.  The court reviewed the evidence using the correct standard of review and properly applied the law.  The plaintiffs have not shown the Board acted illegally.  We affirm the decision of the district court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, Kurt L. Wilke, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (5 pages)

            Abby Anderson appeals the district court’s denial of her petition to modify the decree dissolving her marriage to Michael Anderson, contending the district court (1) should have modified the dissolution decree to grant her physical care of the children; (2) “showed a bias against [her] when questioning her”; (3) should have increased Michael’s child support obligation; and (4) should have modified the holiday visitation schedule.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Mark R. Lawson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (8 pages)

            Antonio Hernandez challenges his conviction for first-degree burglary.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding substantial evidence supports the jury’s verdict finding Hernandez guilty of first-degree burglary, we affirm the district court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for O'Brien County, Carl J. Petersen, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (14 pages)

            After a reverse stock split, RV Central, Inc. sued to determine the fair value of a dissenting shareholder’s shares of the corporation.  The district court found RV Central acted arbitrarily in omitting the value of crops on the land from its share valuation estimate, relied on a June 2018 appraisal to value the corporation’s land, and awarded attorney fees to the dissenting shareholder.  RV Central appeals.  The dissenting shareholder asks us to affirm the district court order and award appellate attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude (1) RV Central acted arbitrarily in omitting the crop value from its valuation estimate and affirm the award of attorney fees; (2) the district court’s use of the 2018 appraisal was appropriate; and (3) the dissenting shareholder is entitled to an award of costs and some of his attorney fees on appeal.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Michael J. Shubatt, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Mullins and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J. (3 pages) 

            Lafayette Dean appeals his conviction of domestic abuse assault impeding air or blood flow causing serious injury, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the court’s finding of guilt.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clay County, Andrew Smith, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Mullins and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (5 pages)

            Stephen Leonard appeals his drug conviction, arguing the district court erred in denying his motions to suppress and for appointment of an expert witness.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm Leonard’s conviction.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Kathleen A. Kilnoski, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Mullins and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (6 pages)

            David Lusk appeals the district court’s calculation of child support and valuation of Dawn Lusk’s retirement account.  David argues the child support award is not appropriate considering the custody arrangement and assets were inequitably divided between the parties because of a miscalculation of Dawn’s retirement account.  OPINION HOLDS: Because David did not meet his burden to prove the additional income was not reasonably expected in the future, the child support calculation will not be disturbed.  The district court’s valuation of Dawn’s 401k was within the range of evidence and the amount set aside to set off the funds used on attorney fees was equitable. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Fayette County, Alan T. Heavens, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Mullins and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (7 pages)

            In this post-dissolution of marriage modification action, Clay Hallberg appeals the order denying his petition to modify his spousal support obligation to Tamra Hallberg.  Tamra cross-appeals the denial of her request for trial attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: On our de novo review, we find no substantial change in circumstances outside the contemplation of the parties and the district court at the time the stipulated dissolution decree was entered that would justify a modification of Clay’s spousal support obligation.  We also find no abuse of discretion in denying Tamra’s request for trial attorney fees.  Therefore, we affirm the district court with respect to both appeals, and we award Tamra $4000.00 in appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Plymouth County, Daniel P. Vakulskas, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., May, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Carr, S.J.  (6 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her children.  OPINION HOLDS: The juvenile court did not abuse its discretion in denying the mother’s request for a continuance of the termination hearing because she failed to show good cause.  Because clear and convincing evidence shows the children cannot be returned to the mother’s care due to her ongoing issues with substance use and termination is in the children’s best interests, we affirm the termination of the mother’s parental rights under Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(f) and (h) (2019).

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Rachael E. Seymour, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Carr, S.J.  (6 pages)

            A father appeals the termination of his parental rights to his child.  OPINION HOLDS: Clear and convincing evidence supports terminating the father’s parental rights under Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(f) (2019), and termination is in the child’s best interests.  We decline to apply Iowa Code section 232.116(3)(a) to avoid termination.  We affirm.