2020 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Stuart P. Werling, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (6 pages)

            Michael Eskridge sold crystal methamphetamine to undercover police officer three times.  The district court sentenced him to a mandatory minimum of eight and one-third years.  In his allocution, Michael asked the court to consider letters and class certificates and to use its discretion to reduce the mandatory minimum sentence from 8.3 years to 5.6 years.  At the postconviction-relief (PCR) hearing, the PCR court denied his claim that because his trial attorney did not move to admit the letters or certificates into evidence his mandatory minimum sentence would have been different.  On appeal, Eskridge claims that trial counsel’s failure to enter the documents as exhibits at sentencing “cut off his ability to appeal the sentence in his case.”  OPINION HOLDS: Eskridge cannot show that had trial counsel offered letters and certificates into the record, a reasonable probability existed that he would have been successful in appealing an adverse sentencing decision.  Eskridge is not entitled to relief.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, David Porter, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (6 pages)

            T.M. appeals an order for his involuntary hospitalization, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the court’s conclusion he is seriously mentally impaired.  OPINION HOLDS: On our review, we find no serious or substantial doubts about the correctness of the district court’s conclusion drawn from the evidence that T.M. was seriously mentally impaired within the meaning of Iowa Code section 229.1(20) (2019).  As such, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Celene Gogerty, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (8 pages)

            Vanessa Bruss appeals the district court’s grant of defendants’ motion to dismiss her petition for judicial review of a ruling from the worker’s compensation commission.  Bruss argues she substantially complied with Iowa Code section 17A.19(2) (2019) by seeking out and obtaining an agreement from respondents’ counsel to accept service within the ten-day period.  She further argues the respondents should be equitably estopped from arguing the district court lacks jurisdiction over her petition for judicial review.  OPINION HOLDS: Bruss did not substantially comply with section 17A.19(2) by obtaining an agreement from respondents’ counsel to accept service but not sending a copy of the petition to respondents’ counsel within the ten-day period.  Bruss did not meet her burden to prove the elements of equitable estoppel by clear and convincing evidence.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Michael J. Shubatt, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (5 pages)

            Eldon and Barbara Jaeger appeal the district court’s order quieting title in Gerald and Donna Manemann to the disputed boundary line between the parties’ neighboring properties.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s finding of a boundary by acquiescence and its delineation of the boundary.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Mary E. Howes, Judge. AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J. (3 pages)          

            Justin Woods appeals his conviction, following a guilty plea, of manufacturing, delivering, or possessing methamphetamine with the intent to manufacture or deliver, claiming his counsel rendered ineffective assistance in failing to move for suppression of evidence obtained as an allegedly unconstitutional seizure.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the record inadequate to determine whether counsel failed to perform an essential duty or prejudice resulted.  We therefore affirm Woods’s conviction but preserve his ineffective-assistance claim for a possible postconviction-relief proceeding.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Mary E. Howes, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J. (10 pages)

            Francisco Cardona appeals his convictions for second-degree sexual abuse, alleging the witness testimony, because of inconsistencies and contradictions, was insufficient to support the verdict.  He also alleges ineffective assistance of counsel.  OPINION HOLDS: The witness testimony was sufficient to convince a rational factfinder of Cardona’s guilt.  The inconsistencies and contradictions highlighted by the defense do not lead us to apply the rarely-invoked doctrine used in State v. Smith, 508 N.W.2d 101 (Iowa Ct. App. 1993).  The witness testimony provided overwhelming evidence of Cardona’s guilt.  A motion for a new trial or in arrest of judgment based on the weight-of-the-evidence standard would thus have been meritless.  Consequently, trial counsel had no duty to make such a motion.  Additionally, there is no reasonable probability of a different result had counsel made such a motion, and Cardona is therefore unable to prove prejudice.  Accordingly, we reject his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cass County, Margaret Popp Reyes, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (13 pages)

            Greg Karwal appeals the district court ruling on his petition to establish paternity, custody, support, and visitation.  Greg argues the court erred by granting Jodi Brookshire-Bailey physical care of their minor child, declining to split uncovered medical expenses equally between the parties, and determining the child’s surname.  Jodi requests attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: We modify the district court order on the uncovered medical expenses and the child’s surname and affirm the modified district court order.  We decline to award appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Lee (North) County, John M. Wright, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (6 pages)

            Preston Garmoe appeals the physical care and spousal support provisions of his dissolution decree.  He also appeals the district court’s determination that he should pay a portion of Amy Garmoe’s attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: The physical care and spousal support provisions of the decree are equitable, so we affirm.  The district court did not abuse its discretion in ordering Preston to pay a portion of Amy’s attorney fees.  We decline to award Amy appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Delaware County, Monica Zrinyi-Wittig, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  Special Concurrence by Greer, J.  (14 pages)

            Rockette Trucking and Construction, Ltd. (Rockette Construction) sought damages for replacing its ruined engine and for loss of use of its truck while awaiting the replacement engine.  Following a bench trial, the district court found Runde Auto Group of Iowa, Inc. (Runde Auto) liable and awarded damages.  Runde Auto appeals, raising issues regarding claimed discovery abuses by Rockette Construction and insufficient evidence of loss-of-use damages.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to exclude witnesses or evidence as a result of the claimed discovery abuses.  The evidence of “mobilization charges” is not sufficient evidence of Rockette Construction’s loss-of-use damages.  Therefore, we find insufficient evidence to support the district court’s award of loss-of-use damages.  We affirm the liability of Runde Auto.  Because the evidence of cost-of-repair damages was uncontroverted, we remand for entry of judgment for cost-of-repair damages only.  SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: I concur in this decision with a caveat.  I concur in the decision because even if the non-disclosed expert opinions were excluded from this record, other testimony supported the trial court’s liability finding.  Otherwise I would have concluded an abuse of discretion occurred for failing to limit the expert testimony without good cause established for the untimely disclosure.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Patrice J. Eichman, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (3 pages)

            Tashieyana ONeal appeals the sentences imposed for her convictions of driving while barred, an aggravated misdemeanor, and eluding, a serious misdemeanor.  After pleading guilty to the charges, ONeal now asserts the trial court abused its discretion by sentencing her to six days in jail.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court sentenced ONeal pursuant to the plea agreement reached by ONeal and the State.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Mahaska County, Dan Wilson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (8 pages)

            The mother appeals the modification of the parties’ custody decree.  The modification order changed the custodial arrangement from joint physical care to placing physical care of the parties’ minor child with the father.  On appeal, the mother argues placing physical care with the father is not in the child’s best interest.  Alternatively, she argues she should receive more visitation time.  Both parents request appellate attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: It is in the child’s best interest to modify the decree to place physical care with the father.  No modification of the visitation schedule is warranted.  No appellate attorney fees are awarded to either party.  Court costs are assessed to the mother.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Paul Miller, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (9 pages)

            This case involves a dispute between adjacent property owners Rick Rhebb and Janet Clark related to the boundary between their respective properties in Iowa City.  Rhebb appeals the trial court’s findings of a boundary by acquiescence or, in the alternative, adverse possession.  Clark cross-appeals the denial of an award of damages for trespass.  OPINION HOLDS: Because substantial evidence supports the trial court’s findings and conclusion of a boundary by acquiescence, we affirm on Rhebb’s appeal.  The evidence Clark presented is wholly insufficient to meet her burden to prove the damages she claims.  We therefore affirm on the cross-appeal.