2020 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

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

            Alejandro Lira appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: We find counsel was not ineffective as alleged and conclude Lira failed to meet his burden to establish a violation of the fair cross-section requirement.  As such, we affirm the denial of Lira’s application for postconviction relief.

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

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to one of her children.  She contends (1) the record lacks clear and convincing evidence to support termination under Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(d) (2019); (2) the department of human services failed to make reasonable efforts to reunify her with her child; and (3) “the juvenile court erred in denying [her] motion to bifurcate the roles of [the child’s] attorney and [guardian ad litem].”  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the termination of the mother’s parental rights to the child.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cherokee County, Nancy L. Whittenburg, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., Mullins, J., and Gamble, S.J.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J. (7 pages)

            An offender appeals the order imposing restitution for reimbursement of the Crime Victim Assistance Program and for court-appointed attorney fees, contending the court failed to consider his financial resources in finding he is able to pay.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the court appropriately considered the relevant factors in determining whether the imposition of restitution would cause hardship to DeLong, he failed to meet his burden to prove an abuse of discretion.  We affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Keokuk County, Daniel Kitchen, District Associate Judge.  REVErSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (4 pages)

            A father appeals the dismissal of his petition to terminate his parental rights.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the court did not provide the father with notice prior to dismissing the petition, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

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

            Salvador Cruz Jr. appeals the sentence entered by the district court following his convictions of possession of methamphetamine, failure to possess a tax stamp, and going armed with a concealed weapon, arguing the district court should have merged “the convictions for failure to possess a tax stamp and possession of a controlled substance.”  OPINION HOLDS: We discern no error in the district court’s refusal to merge the two offenses.   

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Mitchell E. Turner, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Doyle and May, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (6 pages)

            Caricia Andrews appeals the district court’s entry of a default decree modifying physical care of the parties’ child.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude modification of the Illinois agreement to afford Spencer Brink physical care of the child was in the child’s best interests.     

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Plymouth County, Steven J. Andreasen, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J. (14 pages)

            The State appeals the district court’s grant of Bryan Stone’s motion to suppress evidence found in his vehicle.  The State contends the deputy did not seize Stone until he observed burglar tools in the vehicle.  After that, the deputy developed probable cause to search the vehicle under the automobile exception to the warrant requirement.  OPINION HOLDS: We agree with the State that Stone was not seized until the deputy saw the burglar tools, after which the deputy developed probable cause to search the vehicle.  Further investigation tied Stone to a burglary that occurred earlier that night.  The deputies then properly searched the vehicle under the automobile exception.  We reverse the grant of the motion to suppress and remand for further proceedings. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Lee (South) County, Wyatt P. Peterson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (6 pages)

            Jeremy Smith appeals the district court decision denying his request to modify the physical care provision of the parties’ dissolution decree.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude Jeremy has not met his heavy burden to establish a material and substantial change in circumstances that would justify a modification of physical care.  We decline to award appellate attorney fees but assess costs to Jeremy.  We affirm the district court’s decision dismissing Jeremy’s petition to modify the decree.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Samantha Gronewald, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (16 pages)

            Clifford J. Watkins III sued the City of Des Moines and three of its administrators.  He raised claims of racial discrimination in promotions and hostile work environment.  The district court granted the city’s motion for summary judgment.  Watkins asks us to reverse the summary judgment and remand for trial.  OPINION HOLDS: Because Watkins offered evidence that two of three members of the interview panel made statements arguably showing racial animus, he generated a jury question on the city’s motivation in turning him down for a promotion.  We reverse the summary judgment on that claim.  Because Watkins did not create a genuine issue of material fact that “discriminatory intimidation, ridicule and insult” permeated his workplace, the city was entitled to judgment as a matter of law on the hostile work environment claim.  We thus affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Harrison County, Greg W. Steensland, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (9 pages)

            A child’s guardian appeals a district court order terminating the guardianship.  The guardian contends the child’s parents failed to prove a substantial change of circumstances warranting termination or that termination was in the child’s best interests.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the termination of the guardianship.  We decline the parties’ requests for appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Warren County, Brendan Greiner, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., May, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Blane, S.J.  (5 pages)

            A father appeals the termination of his parental rights to four children, arguing the State failed to make reasonable efforts to reunite him with his children by setting up phone calls with him in prison.  OPINION HOLDS: The father’s requests and the State’s efforts were ultimately hindered by the father’s actions of making a late request on the day of the original termination hearing and later absconding from a prison release program.  Finally, the father was moved to a new prison once he returned to incarceration, and the social worker was unable to set up phone calls before the new termination hearing date.  Under those circumstances, we find the social worker acted reasonably and the State made reasonable efforts to provide the requested service. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Butler County, Rustin Davenport, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (6 pages)

            Jenny Hugill appeals the district court’s entry of a civil domestic protective order protecting Joseph Hugill.  OPINION HOLDS: The record does not establish an assault as defined in Iowa Code section 708.1 (2019), and thus does not establish “domestic abuse” within the meaning of section 236.2.  So we reverse and remand for dismissal of the civil domestic protective order