2020 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clay County, Charles K. Borth, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (6 pages)

            Charles Stoppelmoor appeals his conviction for operating while intoxicated, second offense, arguing the district court should have granted his motion to suppress based on an alleged unconstitutional seizure.  OPINION HOLDS: Based on the totality of the circumstances, the lieutenant had reasonable suspicion that Stoppelmoor was operating while intoxicated when he initiated the seizure and the district court did not err by denying the motion to suppress.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Boone County, Stephen A. Owen, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (3 pages)

            Ronald Steenhoek entered a written plea of guilty to the charge of assault causing bodily injury.  Steenhoek appeals, claiming trial counsel was ineffective in failing to file a motion to dismiss the trial information because it did not give adequate notice concerning a burglary charge and in failing to take depositions.  OPINION HOLDS: Steenhoek’s first ineffective-assistance claim fails, and the record is inadequate to address the second.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Joel W. Barrows and Mark J. Smith, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, P.J.  (4 pages)

            Leonard Boyd appeals his conviction after pleading guilty to assault causing bodily injury.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the record on direct appeal is inadequate to resolve Boyd’s claim that counsel was ineffective by failing to investigate the facts and interview witnesses, we preserve it for a postconviction-relief proceeding.  But Boyd cannot show his counsel breached a duty by failing to move in arrest of judgment to challenge the voluntary nature of his plea because the court did not have to inform Boyd of a collection fee that was a collateral consequence of his plea.  Nor was the court required to conduct an in-court colloquy because Boyd’s written guilty plea to a misdemeanor waived his right to one. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Howard County, James D. Coil, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED AND REMANDED.  Heard by Tabor, P.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (14 pages)

            Charles Leff appeals the provisions regarding child support and tax benefits from the ruling dissolving his marriage to Carrie Leff.  He argues the trial court improperly determined his income for calculating his child support obligation and improperly allowed Carrie to claim one of the parties’ children as a dependent on her tax returns.  Carrie requests appellate attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: We agree with the trial court that Charles’s gross annual income for support purposes is $84,440.00, but we find his entire income is taxable.  Therefore, we remand to the district court for the purpose of calculating his child support obligation and entering a corresponding support order.  Because the child support obligation may influence the determination of how to equitably allocate the right to claim the children as dependents on the parties’ tax returns, we also remand to reconsider such allocation.  We otherwise affirm the trial court, and we deny Carrie’s request for appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Kathleen A. Kilnoski, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (12 pages)

            Brian Andreesen appeals the district court’s denial of his motion for a new trial following a civil jury verdict in favor of the defendant, a railroad company.  He generally challenges the propriety of the instructions the district court provided to the jury concerning the statute of limitations and discovery rule.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the court’s use of the term “symptoms” in its jury instructions as a correct statement of the law.  We find the court’s preceding use of the term “first” to be error.  However, we find the instructional error harmless and thus affirm the denial of the motion for a new trial.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Paul D. Scott, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., Schumacher, J., and Vogel, S.J.  Opinion by Vogel, S.J. (4 pages)

            Thomas Calhoun appeals his convictions for operating while intoxicated—third offense and two counts of abandonment or neglect of a dependent person.  OPINION HOLDS: The witnesses’ testimony, as supported by the officers’ body camera footage, provides sufficient evidence to support Calhoun’s convictions.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clinton County, Stuart P. Werling, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Tabor, J., takes no part.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (5 pages)

            Following a trial on the minutes of evidence, Robert Mohr was convicted of operating while intoxicated, first offense.  On appeal, Mohr challenges the denial of his motion to suppress, maintaining the officer who stopped his vehicle had neither reasonable suspicion nor probable cause to do so.  OPINION HOLDS: Because credible evidence supports the determination the officer witnessed Mohr drive his vehicle over the center line of the four-lane divided road, the officer had probable cause to initiate the stop.  We affirm the district court’s denial of Mohr’s motion to suppress.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Lee (North) County, John M. Wright, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J. (14 pages)

            Lha Southideth-Whiten appeals his conviction for voluntary manslaughter, in violation of Iowa Code sections 707.4 (2016).  He contends the trial court abused its discretion in excluding expert testimony concerning his justification defense and erred in instructing the jury that a person is not justified in using reasonable force if an alternative course of action is available without noting the “home exception.”  OPINION HOLDS: Finding no abuse of the trial court’s discretion concerning the expert witness’s testimony or error in the jury instructions, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jackson County, Nancy S. Tabor, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Tabor, J., takes no part.  Opinion by Bower, C.J. (4 pages)

            Jacob Boothby pleaded guilty to assault with intent to inflict serious injury.  On appeal, he asserts the sentencing court improperly considered his failure to sign a release of information for mental-health and substance-abuse treatment.  OPINION HOLDS: The court’s statements concerning Boothby’s refusal to sign a release of information for his mental-health and substance-abuse treatment shows the court was considering relevant information with respect to what sentence would be most appropriate.  Finding no abuse of discretion, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Becky Goettsch, District Associate Judge and Thomas P. Murphy, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Doyle, J., and Vogel, S.J.  Opinion by Vogel, S.J. (3 pages)

            Felix Mejia appeals his conviction for indecent exposure, arguing his counsel was ineffective for failing to ensure his waiver of jury trial was voluntary and intelligent.  OPINION HOLDS: On the record before us, we cannot determine whether prejudice resulted from his counsel’s alleged failure to obtain a proper jury-trial waiver.  Therefore, we affirm his conviction and preserve his deficient-waiver claim for a postconviction-relief proceeding.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Carroll County, William C. Ostlund, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.  Heard by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (14 pages)

            Randy Kohorst appeals the district court’s dissolution order, arguing the court erred by (1) granting Michelle Kohorst a life estate in a lakefront property he purchased before the marriage and (2) awarding her traditional, monthly spousal support.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude the plain language of the premarital agreement grants Michelle a life estate in the property.  We modify the district court decree to require Michelle to pay the expenses related to the property, including insurance on the property’s contents.  We also affirm the spousal support award and award Michelle appellate attorney fees. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, Adam Sauer, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (10 pages)

            Nicholas Wright appeals the denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained from warrantless “trash rips.”  OPINION HOLDS: Because the law enforcement officer did not intrude upon a constitutionally-protected interest and Wright had no reasonable expectation of privacy in the contents of the garbage containers left out for collection, we affirm the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress.