August 2021 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Tamra Roberts, Judge.  APPEAL DISMISSED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Tabor and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (5 pages)

            David Galvin appeals his conviction following a guilty plea to possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver.  He asserts the colloquy was defective because the court failed to conduct an inquiry into the terms of the plea agreement.  OPINION HOLDS: Because Galvin did not move in arrest of judgment and does not contend the court failed to advise him of the necessity for filing that motion, he has not established good cause to appeal the plea proceedings. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Floyd County, Dedra Schroeder, Judges.  APPEAL DISMISSED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and May, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (2 pages)

            Shane Davis appeals following his guilty plea to lascivious acts with a child and indecent contact with a child.  OPINION HOLDS: Davis has no right of appeal because he failed to establish good cause as required by Iowa Code section 814.6(1)(a)(3) (2020).

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Ian K. Thornhill, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., Schumacher, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Carr, S.J.  (10 pages)

            Randelle Brown appeals his convictions after a jury found him guilty of four charges.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court acted within its discretion in denying Brown’s motions for mistrial based on prosecutorial misconduct.  The court instructed the jury properly on the elements of first-degree harassment and did not err by refusing to give a “true threat” instruction.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Wapello County, Crystal S. Cronk, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Schumacher, J., and Gamble, S.J.  Opinion by Gamble, S.J.  (16 pages)

            Jacob Heckethorn appeals his convictions for murder in the second degree and assault with intent to inflict serious injury, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury’s verdict and the jury instructions on justification.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review of the issues before us, we affirm Heckethorn’s convictions for murder in the second degree and assault with intent to inflict serious injury.   

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Marshall County, John J. Haney, Judge.  AFFIRMED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., and May and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J. (10 pages)

            Korki Wilbourn appeals the sentence imposed following his guilty pleas, arguing the district court abused its discretion by failing to consider or understand its discretion to reduce his mandatory minimum sentence and further asks the court to correct a discrepancy between its oral and written pronouncement of sentence.  OPINION HOLDS: We find Wilbourn failed to establish good cause to appeal his sentence, as the court adopted the joint sentencing recommendation of the parties.  We affirm the conviction and sentence.  However, the discrepancy concerning the fine on the drug-tax-stamp conviction should be corrected via a nunc pro tunc order.  

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeffrey D. Farrell, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J. and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (15 pages)

            Craig Smith appeals the summary ruling dismissing his application for postconviction relief.  The district court found the statute of limitations had run and there were no exceptions shown to the three-year limitations period.  Smith argues he was not competent to stand trial; received ineffective assistance from trial counsel and PCR counsel; and claims his sentence was illegal because he is innocent of first-degree murder.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s summary dismissal; Smith’s claims are all time barred by the three-year statute of limitations for postconviction relief actions, and no exceptions to the statute of limitations apply.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jones County, Mary E. Chicchelly, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., May, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Blane, S.J.  Dissent by Tabor, P.J.  (11 pages)

            Skylar Edwards appeals her conviction for possession of marijuana contending the police stop was impermissibly prolonged and the court should have sustained her suppression motion.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude the police officer did not impermissibly prolong the stop and affirm.  DISSENT ASSERTS: I respectfully dissent. As soon as the deputy determined Edwards had properly displayed a temporary registration card in her rear window, he had no reasonable suspicion to ask for a bill of sale and her driver’s license.  Instead, he should have let her leave.  Because he continued his investigation without cause, I would reverse the district court ruling denying the motion to suppress.  

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Grundy County, Bradley J. Harris, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Mullins, J., and Danilson, S.J.  Opinion by Danilson, S.J.  (4 pages)

            Adam Michael Rees filed for postconviction relief in Grundy County, arguing the Iowa Department of Corrections incorrectly credited his time in jail.  The court determined venue was inappropriate and dismissed Rees’s complaint.  Rees appeals, claiming the court erred in dismissing for improper venue.  OPINION HOLDS: We reverse and remand for further proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeanie K. Vaudt, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.  Heard by Bower, C.J., and Tabor and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (15 pages)

            Jesus Carreras appeals the judicial review of an agency decision to revoke his motor vehicle dealer license based on a federal conviction for structuring currency deposits.  He contends his conviction should not have led to revocation because it was not “in connection with selling or other activity relating to motor vehicles” under Iowa Code section 322.3(12) (2019).  OPINION HOLDS: Because the agency correctly interpreted that phrase, we affirm the revocation of Carreras’s dealer license.  But we find the district court improperly tolled enforcement of the revocation period.  Thus, we reverse the tolling order and remand with instructions to reinstate Carreras’s license five years from the date of his conviction.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Monica L. Wittig, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (13 pages)

            Sarah Gruel appeals the sentence imposed following her guilty plea to attempted first-degree burglary.  She argues the sentencing court abused its discretion by failing to adequately consider relevant sentencing factors and the prosecutor breached the plea agreement.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the sentencing court did not abuse its discretion and determine there was no breach of the plea agreement.  Accordingly, we affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Robert B. Hanson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, P.J.  (5 pages)

            Dewann Stone appeals the dismissal of his application for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude the application was barred by the statute of limitations and affirm dismissal.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clay County, Charles K. Borth, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Greer, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (9 pages)

            Persons owning land in Drainage District No. 37 (DD37) filed a petition to initiate an election of private trustees to manage the affairs of DD37.  Based on its interpretation of Iowa Code section 468.501 (2019), the Clay County Board of Supervisors (Board) concluded the necessary majority of landowners did not sign the petition and denied the election.  David Wyatt and Robert Swan (Landowners) brought suit, arguing each person having an interest in land in DD37—even those with only a partial ownership interest—were entitled to a vote.  The district court sided with the landowners on summary judgment, concluding the Board improperly denied the election.  The Board appealed.  OPINION HOLDS: We cannot find any reference to a formula suggested by the Board that requires categories of ownership.  And if the legislature had wanted us to use that formula, it would have said so.  Thus, we agree with the Landowners and affirm the ruling of the district court.