April 2021 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Christine Dalton Ploof, District Associate Judge, and Henry W. Latham II and Tamra Roberts, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (6 pages)

            Janya Hill appeals the judgment and sentence imposed after pleading guilty to first-degree theft and operating a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent.  OPINION HOLDS: We are unable to reach the merits of Hill’s claim on appeal because she did not show good cause under Iowa Code section 814.6(1)(a)(3) (2020) and her guilty plea waived any challenge to her transfer to adult court under State v. Yodprasit, 564 N.W.2d 383, 385 (Iowa 1997).  Thus we affirm both convictions.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Henry W. Latham II, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (7 pages)

            Craig Malin appeals from a jury verdict and judgment entered in favor of the defendants.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the verdict and judgment in favor of the defendants.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Samantha J. Gronewald, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  Special Concurrence by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (15 pages)

            Matthew Leonard appeals the dismissal of his second application for postconviction relief (PCR).  He contends the district court should have allowed an amendment to his pro se application and should not have dismissed his actual-innocence claim without a hearing.  He adds a new argument on appeal: that his second PCR counsel was ineffective in failing to timely file the amendment.  OPINION HOLDS: Because Leonard’s belated claims did not relate back to his original pleading, the court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion to amend.  Likewise, summary dismissal was appropriate because Leonard failed to allege sufficient proof that he was actually innocent.   Finally, Leonard cannot show he was prejudiced by the performance of his second PCR counsel.  Thus, we affirm denial of the motion to amend and the summary dismissal.  SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: I specially concur.  I too would affirm the district court’s summary disposition of the postconviction-relief application as time-barred, but I would not reach the merits of Leonard’s actual-innocence claim.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Osceola County, Don E. Courtney, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Doyle, P.J., and Tabor and Ahlers, JJ., but decided en banc.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (17 pages)

            Kurt Kraai appeals his conviction of second-degree sexual abuse.  He claims the district court erred in giving the jury a noncorroboration instruction.  OPINION HOLDS: Disavowing a prior unpublished disposition, we now conclude that giving the noncorroboration instruction was error.  But because the jury’s guilty verdict was “surely unattributable” to the faulty instruction, we affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, DeDra L. Schroeder, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (7 pages)

            Michael Terry Williams appeals the district court’s dismissal of his second application for postconviction relief (PCR).  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s ruling the application was not timely and determine the record is not adequate to address Williams’s claim of ineffective assistance by his second PCR counsel.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Muscatine County, Patrick A. McElyea, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, J.  (16 pages)

            Annette Cahill appeals the judgment and sentence entered after a jury found her guilty of second-degree murder.  She challenges the court’s rulings on the State’s failure to disclose evidence and the court’s refusal to exclude the testimony of three witnesses at trial.  Cahill also challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury’s verdict and contends her constitutional rights were violated by the twenty-six-year delay between the crime and her arrest.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court did not err in its denial of Cahill’s post-trial motion to compel DNA testing.  Cahill did not establish a Brady violation by the State regarding a laboratory report provided mid-trial.  The district court did not err in denying Cahill’s Iowa Rule of Evidence 5.104 motions to exclude prosecution witnesses’ testimony.  The district court did not err in denying Cahill’s motion for new trial since sufficient evidence supported the jury’s verdict.  Cahill’s due process rights were not violated by the pre-accusation delay in prosecution.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Robert B. Hanson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by May, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (23 pages)

Robyn Mengwasser appeals the denial of her motion for a partial new trial.  This appeal follows a jury trial on her personal injury claim against appellees, Joseph Comito and Capital City Fruit Company.  Supporting her request for a new trial on damages only, Mengwasser presents five claims of error;  (1) limiting the testimony of Dr. Randy Dierenfield; (2) refusing to submit an eggshell plaintiff instruction to the jury; (3) refusing to grant a partial new trial on the basis the jury verdict was logically inconsistent; (4) granting Comito’s second motion in limine, excluding evidence of medical treatment Mengwasser received shortly before trial; and finally, (5) granting in part Comito’s post-trial application for taxation of costs under Iowa Code Chapter 677 (2019).  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s denial of Mengwasser’s motion for a partial new trial.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Lee (South) County, Michael J. Schilling, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (23 pages)

            Skylar Stark appeals his conviction for the crimes of burglary in the first degree and robbery in the first degree arguing the district court erred in denying his motion to sever a felon in possession of a firearm charge and admitting certain evidence over his relevancy and unfair prejudice objections.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court did not abuse its discretion in finding the State’s interest in judicial economy outweighed the risk of unfair prejudice from joinder and we find no abuse of discretion regarding the four challenged exhibits.  We also conclude that any error in the admission of the exhibits was harmless and does not warrant a reversal. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Michael J. Shubatt, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR NEW TRIAL.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Vaitheswaran, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Opinion by Potterfield, S.J.  (8 pages)

            Bryan Halfhill was convicted of second-degree sexual abuse, lascivious acts with a child, and lascivious acts with a child by way of soliciting a person to commit a sex act with a child.  On appeal, Halfhill contends (1) the prosecutor engaged in misconduct, which should result in Halfhill receiving a new trial; (2) because of lack of corroborating evidence for his alleged accomplice’s testimony, the State failed to present substantial evidence to support any of Halfhill’s three convictions; and (3) the district court wrongly admitted testimony that constituted backdoor hearsay.  OPINION HOLDS: We agree with Halfhill that “backdoor hearsay” was admitted at this trial.  The district court failed to recognize the issue when Halfhill objected, so no curative actions were taken.  Under the circumstances of this case, the State cannot prove the error was not prejudicial to Halfhill, so we reverse and remand for a new trial.  As this issue is dispositive, we do not consider Halfhill’s other claims.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Lee County (North), Wyatt Peterson and John M. Wright, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (4 pages)

            Adam Smith appeals following his guilty plea to third-degree burglary, challenging his guilty plea, sentence, and the efficacy of trial counsel.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm Smith’s conviction, judgment, and sentence for third-degree burglary.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Des Moines County, John M. Wright, Judge.  CONVICTION REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (11 pages)

            Andrew Jaquez appeals his conviction for possession of a controlled substance, third offense after a bench trial on the minutes of evidence.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the minutes do not show that Jaquez knew about the drugs in the car or had dominion and control over them, the State did not meet its burden of proof.  Having found insufficient evidence of possession, we reverse the drug conviction and remand for dismissal on that charge, as well as resentencing on the unchallenged convictions. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Robert B. Hanson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Doyle and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (8 pages)

            Heather Housley appeals the decision of the Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commissioner denying her claim for benefits from the Second Injury Fund of Iowa.  OPINION HOLDS: Discerning no error of law, we affirm.