March 2021 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Patrick H. Tott, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (13 pages)

            Jessica McHugh appeals from a district court order dismissing her medical malpractice action against Dr. Adam B. Smith and Tri-State Specialists, LLP for failing to timely file her expert witness’s certificate of merit affidavit under Iowa Code section 147.140 (2017).  She contends she substantially complied with the requirements of the statute and her case should not have been dismissed.  In the alternative, she argues she should be excused from strict compliance with the statute because of “simple error.”  As another alternative, she asserts her lack of compliance should be excused because the trial scheduling and discovery plan omitted the statutory deadline for filing the certificate of merit affidavit.  OPINION HOLDS: We find McHugh failed to substantially comply with the requirement of filing a certificate of merit affidavit under section 147.140.  We find no other ground to reverse the dismissal.  Thus we affirm the district court. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Crawford County, Duane E. Hoffmeyer, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON APPEAL; AFFIRMED IN PART AND REVERSED IN PART ON CROSS-APPEAL; AND REMANDED.  Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (17 pages)

            Chad Goslar appeals the district court judgment finding him liable to Chad Kiepe for unpaid wages under the Wage Payment Collection Act.  On appeal, Goslar argues (1) the doctrine of judicial estoppel barred Kiepe from arguing Goslar owed him for unpaid wages because Kiepe previously claimed in bankruptcy proceedings that he was not owed any such unpaid wages; (2) the district court’s finding that the parties agreed to an hourly component to Kiepe’s employment with Goslar was not supported by substantial evidence; and (3) the district court abused its discretion by awarding Kiepe attorney fees.  On cross-appeal, Kiepe argues the district court erred by improperly calculating liquidated damages under Iowa Code section 91A.2(6) (2018) and by improperly concluding Goslar modified the employment agreement rather than repudiating it.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the judgment of the district court on Goslar’s appeal.  Substantial evidence supports the district court findings that Kiepe’s employment agreement with Goslar included an hourly wage component.  The statements Goslar points to on appeal are insufficient to overcome the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the district court’s finding Goslar did not repudiate the employment agreement prior to Goslar’s express repudiation in January 2017.  The evidence on record is sufficient to conclude Goslar intentionally withheld wages from Kiepe.  The district court did not abuse its discretion in awarding attorney fees in the full amount claimed.  On Kiepe’s cross-appeal, we affirm in part and reverse in part and remand for modification of the judgment in favor of Kiepe for liquidated damages from $836.17 to $17,263.50.  The district court did not err by considering contract modification in this case, and did not abuse its discretion by declining to award Kiepe liquidated damages for the hourly wage for the hours worked in 2017.  We also remand for a determination of the proper amount to award to Kiepe for usual and necessary attorney fees and costs expended on appeal.

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

            Antonio Mikhal Johnson appeals his sentences for assault with the intent to commit sexual abuse causing bodily injury as a habitual offender and assault on a correctional officer causing bodily injury.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the district court adequately stated its reasons for the sentence, we conclude the district court did not abuse its discretion.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cherokee County, Andrew Smith, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (5 pages)

            E.R. is involuntarily committed to inpatient treatment and appeals the court’s order that injections of antipsychotic medications continue.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the constitutional claim raised on appeal was not presented to or ruled on by the district court, it is not preserved for our review.  Therefore, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Samantha Gronewald, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J. (4 pages)       

            Gaston Keahna appeals his sentence following a guilty plea for possession of a controlled substance, third offense.  He claims the district court should have suspended his sentence and placed him on probation to better address his substance-abuse issues.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the court properly exercised its discretion in balancing Keahna’s opportunity for rehabilitation and the community’s protection, we affirm his five-year prison sentence.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Lawrence P. McLellan, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (3 pages)

            Scott Dobesh appeals the denial of his application for an order nunc pro tunc to modify the equalization payment ordered in his 2018 marriage dissolution.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding no error, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dallas County, Richard B. Clogg, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by May, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (6 pages)

            Ryan Comstock appeals the district court decision permitting Emilie Comstock, now known as Emilie Boesen, to determine where the parties’ minor children would attend school because she had physical care.  OPINION HOLDS: We reverse and remand for the court to make a determination based on the best interests of the children, in light of Harder v. Anderson, Arnold, Dickey, Jensen, Gullickson & Sanger, L.L.P., 764 N.W.2d 534, 538 (Iowa 2009).  We deny the parties’ request for appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Muscatine County, Gary P. Strausser, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (7 pages)

            A father appeals the termination of his parental rights.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude termination is in the children’s best interests and additional time to work toward reunification is unwarranted, and we affirm the termination of the father’s parental rights.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, David F. Staudt, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by May, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by May, P.J.  (8 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights.  OPINION HOLDS: The State made reasonable efforts toward reunification.  Termination is in the children’s best interests.  We decline to apply Iowa Code section 232.116(3)(c) (2020) to preclude termination.  And we do not grant the mother additional time to work toward reunification.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Floyd County, Karen Kaufman Salic, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by May, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by May, P.J.  (9 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights.  OPINION HOLDS: Termination is in the child’s best interest.  We decline to apply Iowa Code section 232.116(3)(a) and (c) (2020) to preclude termination.  We do not grant the mother additional time to work toward reunification.  And we do not find a violation of her due process rights.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Kimberly Ayotte, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered by May, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (14 pages)

            The mother of two children, born in 2016 and 2018, appeals the termination of her parental rights.  The father of the older child separately appeals the termination of his parental rights.  The mother and father each claim the State failed to prove grounds for termination under Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(h) (2020) and argue termination of their rights is not in the best interests of their respective child or children.  Because of their strong bond, the father also contends a statutory exception should be applied to save the parent-child relationship.  Alternatively, the father requests another six months as an alternative to termination or that the guardianship and custody of the child be transferred to the paternal grandfather in Colorado.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the termination of both parents’ parental rights. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Cynthia S. Finley, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by May, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (8 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights concerning her young daughter.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding the statutory ground relied on by the district is supported by the evidence, termination is in the child’s best interest, and no permissive exception should be applied, we affirm.