April 2021 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Christine Dalton, District Associate Judge.  APPEAL DISMISSED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, J.  (4 pages)

            Jeremy Davis appeals following his guilty plea to voluntary absence from custody.  OPINION HOLDS:  Davis pled guilty to a crime other than a class A felony and did not establish good cause for considering the appeal under Iowa Code section 814.6(1)(a)(3) (2019).  His ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim cannot be decided on direct appeal, under section 814.7.  We dismiss Davis’s appeal. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Kevin McKeever and Mitchell E. Turner, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (4 pages)

            Earl Lee Riley appeals, alleging defects in the plea procedure, plea counsel was ineffective, and the court did not provided adequate reasons for imposing consecutive sentences.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Plymouth County, Tod Deck, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and May, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (11 pages)

            Julie Kraft appeals an adverse summary judgment ruling on her petition for partition and quieting of title.  She argues the court erred in determining the statutes of limitation contained in Iowa Code sections 614.17, 614.17A, 633.487 and 633.488 (2018) were applicable to bar her cause of action.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the entry of summary judgment pursuant to sections 614.17 and 614.17A.  We find it unnecessary to address the alternative grounds for summary judgment relied upon by the district court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeffrey D. Farrell, Judge.  SENTENCE VACATED AND CASE REMANDED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (6 pages)

            Nicholas Iaria II appeals the sentence imposed following his pleas of guilty.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the court used an improper consideration in determining sentence, resentencing of the defendant is required.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Lars Anderson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., and May and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (21 pages)

            Brandon Brown appeals the dismissal of his postconviction relief (PCR) action.  Brown argues the PCR court erred in failing to grant relief based on ineffective assistance of trial counsel.  Brown also raises three claims of ineffective assistance of PCR counsel.  OPINION HOLDS: (1) The PCR court did not err in declining to grant relief.  (2) Brown is not entitled to relief as to two of his three claims of ineffective assistance of PCR counsel.  (3) The record is not sufficiently developed to evaluate Brown’s final claim of ineffective assistance of PCR counsel.  (4) Brown is not entitled to remand.  Rather, we preserve Brown’s final claim of ineffective assistance of PCR counsel for possible future litigation.

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

            Jeffery Shockey appeals his prison sentence following his guilty plea to credit card fraud as a habitual offender.  He argues the district court should have granted him probation as recommended by the presentence investigation report.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court relied on appropriate factors in rejecting Shockey’s request for probation—including his prior felony offenses, lack of remorse, mature age, and prospects for succeeding on probation.  We affirm the sentence. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Buena Vista County, Don E. Courtney, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.  Heard by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (27 pages)

            The defendants appeal from the district court’s ruling in this action for an accounting and declaratory judgment.  The defendants contend equitable relief for partial liquidation should not be allowed, the court’s ruling provides for a double recovery of $75,000, and the interest rates and dates of accrual should be modified.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the court’s decree in all respects with one exception.  We modify the language of decretal paragraph 2(e), which shall provide: “Interest on the Capital Interest amount shall accrue at the statutory rate for interest on judgments from and after November 29, 2019.”  

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Wright County, DeDra Schroeder, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., and May and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  Partial Dissent by Mullins, P.J.  (18 pages)

            Jason Sikyta appeals the decree dissolving his marriage to Adriana Sikyta.  He argues the court’s award of spousal support in his favor is inadequate, the property distribution is inequitable, and the court erred in awarding Adriana the dependency deductions for the parties’ two minor children.  He also asserts the district court should have required that Adriana refinance the mortgage on the marital home.  Both parties request an award of appellate attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding no failure to do equity, we affirm the district court’s decree.  Both parties’ requests for appellate attorney fees is denied, and costs on appeal are assessed to Adriana.  PARTIAL DISSENT ASSERTS: I concur with the majority on all issues except the amount and duration of the spousal support award.  In my view, under these facts, and considering the statutory factors governing spousal support awards, equity requires more than ordered by the district court and affirmed by the majority.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Scott D. Rosenberg, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON APPEAL; AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED ON CROSS-APPEAL.  Heard by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (18 pages)

            Rukhsana Drahozal appeals the district court’s ruling upholding the decision by the Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commissioner.  She seeks a finding of permanent total disability and additional penalty benefits.  Envoy Air, Inc., doing business as American Airlines Group, and its insurer New Hampshire Insurance Company cross-appeal the same ruling, claiming Drahozal only sustained scheduled injuries, did not establish an industrial disability, the commissioner should not have awarded penalty benefits, and Drahozal was not entitled to healing-period benefits.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the commissioner’s ruling on industrial disability and healing-period benefits.  We affirm in part and reverse in part the commissioner’s penalty-benefits ruling and remand to the district court with instructions.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Wapello County, Kirk A. Daily, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by May, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by May, P.J.  (8 pages)

            Miguel Chivalan appeals his convictions for interference with official acts and disarming a peace officer of a dangerous weapon.  OPINION HOLDS: Chivalan has not demonstrated error in the jury instructions.  Nor has he shown there was insufficient evidence to support his convictions.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Tod Deck, Judge.  DISTRICT COURT ORDER VACATED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., Mullins, J., and Scott, S.J.  Opinion by Scott, S.J. (9 pages)

            Gabriel Jauregui appeals an order for victim restitution following his guilty-plea conviction.  He claims the “district court erred in assessing restitution which was not causally related to the admitted acts underlying the offense of conviction, and in an amount unsupported by the evidence.”  OPINION HOLDS: We find Jauregui’s conduct was a factual cause of the damages and the harm falls within the scope of liability.  We determine only an award in the amount of $1900.00 is supported by substantial evidence.  We vacate the district court’s restitution order and remand the matter to the district court to enter an order for restitution in that amount.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Monica Zrinyi Wittig, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J. (6 pages)

Kevin Fink challenges the district court’s sentence, imposing three two-year prison terms for three counts of domestic abuse assault to run consecutively, arguing the sentence was excessive.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find no abuse of discretion in the district court’s sentencing decision, we affirm.