June 2021 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pocahontas County, Kurt J. Stoebe, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and May, JJ.  Opinion by Doyle, P.J.  (7 pages)

            Matthew Chindlund appeals his convictions following his guilty pleas to assault while displaying a dangerous weapon and criminal mischief in the third degree.  Chindlund argues his pleas were not voluntary and intelligently provided given his mental incapacity.  OPINION HOLDS: Having failed to establish he was incompetent at the time of his pleas or make a showing that a reasonable person would believe that there is a substantial question of his competency, we affirm Chindlund’s convictions and sentences.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Celene Gogerty, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Tabor and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (6 pages)

            Michael Phelps appeals his indeterminate forty-four-year prison term for sexual exploitation of minors.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the district court permissibly weighed the serious nature of the offenses with all other relevant sentencing factors, we find no abuse of discretion in the sentencing decision.  Thus, we affirm the sentence. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Amy Zacharias, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (11 pages)

            A mother appeals the district court order modifying the physical care arrangement of the parties’ children to grant physical care to the father.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s modification of the physical care arrangement.  On our de novo review, we conclude there was a material and substantial change in circumstances to support the modification.  We conclude the change is permanent and that the district court did not rely on incorrect facts in making its determination.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jones County, Chad Kepros, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J. and Mullins and May, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (9 pages)

            Anthony Rickard appeals the physical care and visitation provisions of the decree dissolving his marriage to Kelsey Rickard.  He argues the district court erred in failing to award him physical care of the parties’ children or that joint physical care should have been awarded.  Anthony also argues the district court erred in not awarding him more visitation time.  OPINION HOLDS: Our de novo review of the record reveals that joint physical care is not in the best interests of the parties’ children.  We agree that the physical care award to Kelsey will place the children in the best position for long-term growth and development.  We also agree that the district court’s visitation award provides Anthony liberal time with the children and is in the best interests of the children.  We affirm the decree dissolving the parties’ marriage.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dallas County, Richard B. Clogg, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and May, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (11 pages)

                Timothy Wolfswinkel appeals an order denying his request for modification of physical care, support, and visitation.  OPINION HOLDS: We find no grounds to disturb the district court’s order.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Chad Kepros, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by May, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (8 pages)

            Mackenzie Pitcairn appeals the dismissal of her petition for dissolution of her marriage to Simon Renaud, arguing the district court abused its discretion in granting Renaud’s pre-answer motion to dismiss on the basis of forum non conveniens.  OPINION HOLDS: We find no abuse in the trial court’s consideration of the relevant factors, and that substantial evidence exists in the record to support its decision.  Accordingly, we affirm the trial court’s decision.  We further decline to award appellate attorney fees.

No. 21-0308   IN RE D.C.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Romonda Belcher, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Schumacher, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (7 pages)

            A father appeals the district court order terminating his parental rights to his young son, D.C.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the father’s arguments as to the statutory grounds relied on by the district court to be unpreserved.  On our de novo review, we determine termination of the father’s parental rights is in D.C.’s best interests and a permissive exception should not be applied.  We affirm the decision of the district court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Korie Talkington, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (5 pages)

            A father and mother separately appeal the termination of their parental rights.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the court’s order terminating parental rights.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Winneshiek County, Linnea M.N. Nicol, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and May, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (10 pages)

            A mother and father separately appeal the termination of their respective parental rights.  OPINION HOLDS: The State established the statutory grounds authorizing termination, and DHS 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.  The parents are not entitled to additional time to work toward reunification.  Establishment of a guardianship with the paternal grandparents was not in the children’s best interests.  The father does not have standing on post-termination placement issues.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Lynn Poschner, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by May, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Scott, S.J.  Opinion by Scott, S.J.  (3 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her child, born in 2016, pursuant to Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(f) (2020), arguing there was insufficient evidence to support the final element of that provision—that the child could not be returned to their care at the time of the termination hearing.  OPINION HOLDS: We deem the mother’s argument waived and, alternatively, conclude the evidence was sufficient to support termination.  We affirm termination of the mother’s parental rights.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Sioux County, Daniel P. Vakulskas, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J. and Tabor and Mullins, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (3 pages)

            A father appeals the juvenile court’s order regarding permanency review and removal, alleging the district court erred in (1) not forcing a child to appear in violation of Iowa Code section 232.91 (2020) and (2) finding clear and convincing evidence of imminent harm leading to removal.  OPINION HOLDS: We deem the father’s arguments waived and affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Wapello County, William Owens, Associate Juvenile Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Tabor and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (5 pages)

            The mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her child, S.S., who was born in 2020.  She argues (1) the State failed to make reasonable efforts to reunify her with the child and (2) termination is not in S.S.’s best interests so the court should have utilized another permanency option, such as guardianship with a relative.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the termination of the mother’s parental rights.