September 2021 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Buchanan County, Jeffrey L. Harris and William Patrick Wegman, District Associate Judges.  APPEAL DISMISSED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (5 pages)

            Hayes Kern appeals his conviction, following a guilty plea, of operating while intoxicated, raising various claims.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding no good cause to appeal following Kern’s guilty plea, we dismiss the appeal.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Coleman McAllister, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Tabor and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (7 pages)

            Masterbrand Cabinets, doing business as Omega Cabinetry, and its insurer, Ace American Insurance Company, appeal the district court’s ruling upholding the award of workers’ compensation benefits and penalty benefits to its employee, Chad Simons.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding no legal error and concluding substantial evidence supports the commissioner’s final decision, we affirm the district court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, William A. Price, District Associate Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Heard by Mullins, P.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (15 pages)

            The adoptive mother of the child appeals the juvenile court’s ruling granting the establishment of a guardianship for the child.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court improperly granted the guardianship petition.  Because the necessary elements to establish a guardianship were not satisfied, we reverse and remand for dismissal of the petition.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Allamakee County, Linnea M.N. Nicol, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, J.  Dissent by Schumacher, J.  (13 pages)

            A mother appeals the denial of her petition to terminate the parental rights of her child’s father, despite the district court’s finding the father abandoned the child.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s conclusion that termination of the father’s parental rights was not in the child’s best interests.  DISSENT ASSERTS: Termination is in the child’s best interest.  Accordingly, I dissent from the majority opinion that determined termination was not in the child’s best interest based solely on the possibility of future financial benefits.  Accordingly, I would reverse.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Floyd County, DeDra Schroeder, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Greer, J. and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (10 pages)

            Krista Sheppard appeals an order awarding Dylan Dunlap physical care of their five-year-old son and requiring her to pay child support and cash medical support.  Both parties request appellate attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: On our de novo review, we reach the same conclusions as the district court.  Thus, we affirm the award of physical care to Dylan and uphold the provisions governing child support and cash medical support.  After considering the financial circumstances of both parties, we decline to award appellate attorney fees. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clarke County, John D. Lloyd, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., Greer, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (13 pages)

            Mark Allan Keller appeals an award of physical care, the distribution of marital assets, and the denial of spousal support.  Jodie Lynn Keller opposes and requests appellate attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the district court did not show compelling reasons to separate the Keller siblings, we reverse the physical care arrangement and remand for recalculation.  But the financial matters were decided equitably, and we affirm.  Jodie’s request for appellate attorney fees is denied.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Muscatine County, Jeffrey D. Bert, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (8 pages)

            Jay Senatra appeals the district court’s denial of his application for rule to show cause, claiming his former wife, Amy Senatra, was in contempt for denying him parenting time with their children.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the court did not abuse its discretion by finding Amy did not act willfully or with a bad or evil purpose.  We deny Amy’s request for appellate attorney fees.  We affirm the decision of the district court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Greene County, Adria Kester, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Greer, J., and Scott, S.J.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (6 pages)

            Bethany Thurston appeals from a decree establishing paternity, custody, and related matters.  She contends the district court should have (1) granted joint legal custody and (2) awarded her physical care of the child.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Fayette County, Linnea M.N. Nicol, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Ahlers, J., and Gamble, S.J.  Opinion by Gamble, S.J.  (5 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights.  OPINION HOLDS: The State established a statutory ground authorizing termination.  Termination is in the child’s best interest.  And we do not give the mother additional time to work toward reunification.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Korie Talkington, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., Greer, J., and Danilson, S.J.  Opinion by Danilson, S.J.  (6 pages)

            A mother appeals from the dispositional order entered by the court regarding her two children, challenging the removal of the children from her care and the finding that the State made reasonable efforts for reunification.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, Adam D. Sauer, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Mullins, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Blane, S.J.  (7 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to three children.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the grounds for termination are met and the best interests of the children weigh toward termination, we affirm the decision of the juvenile court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Romonda Belcher, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., Greer, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (7 pages)

            A father appeals the termination of his parental rights to two children.  He contends the court erred in denying his sister’s motion to intervene.  He also argues the State did not present sufficient evidence of the statutory grounds for termination, termination was not in the children’s best interests, and the department of human services (DHS) made inadequate effort to place the children with his relatives.  He also argues the court should have placed the children in his sister’s custody so that he could argue termination was avoidable under the permissible factors.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the father lacks standing to challenge the denial of his sister’s motion to intervene.  We also find the father did not preserve error on his argument regarding the statutory grounds for termination.  We further find that it was in the children’s best interests to terminate his rights.  Next, we find the court could not have applied the permissive factor to avoid termination because the sister did not have legal custody of the children.  And we find the DHS made reasonable efforts to consider placing the children with the sisters and considered them inappropriate placement options.  So we affirm.