2021 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cass County, Jeffrey L. Larson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, P.J.  (12 pages)

            Jack Carson Jr. appeals his conviction of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.  He argues (1) the court erred in denying his motion to suppress “because the purported alerts by the drug dog” on his vehicle “did not provide probable cause to search” and (2) his attorney was ineffective in failing to challenge the constitutionality of the traffic stop.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the denial of Carson’s motion to suppress and his conviction.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Des Moines County, Michael J. Schilling, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Greer and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (8 pages)

            Deandre Goode appeals the denial of his second petition for postconviction relief.  He alleges his second PCR trial counsel—much like his criminal and first PCR trial counsels—was ineffective by failing to present Facebook metadata in support of his alibi defense.  Because the record isn’t sufficiently developed, Goode asks for a limited remand to develop the evidence or leave to file a third petition.  OPINION HOLDS: Neither remedy is available to Goode, so we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Franklin County, Rustin Davenport, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (5 pages)

            Dillon Vierkant appeals the imposition of a conservatorship.  OPINION HOLDS: Substantial evidence supports the court’s determination that it did not need an evaluation of Vierkant to determine whether the petitioner established grounds for a conservatorship.  Vierkant’s ineffective-assistance claim fails because he makes no prejudice argument.  And the appointed conservator did not have a disqualifying conflict of interest.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Des Moines County, Michael J. Schilling, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Greer, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (11 pages)

            Shawn and Leanne Rana dissolved their marriage by stipulated decree, which included division of their marital property.  One year later, as part of her petition to modify custody provisions, Leanne also raised a counterclaim asking the court to modify the property division based on Shawn’s alleged fraudulent concealment of certain assets.  The court later dismissed Leanne’s counterclaim, concluding (1) it was not properly brought under Iowa Rules of Civil Procedure 1.1012 and 1.1013 and (2) Leanne failed to prove her claim of fraud in equity. Leanne appeals.  OPINION HOLDS: Because Leanne failed to comply with the jurisdictional requirements for her rule 1.1012 fraud claim and because she cannot obtain relief on her equitable fraud claim, we agree with the district court’s ruling dismissing her request to modify the property division in the dissolution decree. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Steven J. Andreasen, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Tabor and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  Partial Dissent by Tabor, J.  (23 pages)

            The defendant challenges his convictions after a bench trial on the grounds that his motion to suppress should have been granted and there was insufficient evidence to support several of the convictions.  OPINION HOLDS:  We find the motion to suppress was properly denied because the traffic stop was lawful.  Further, we find substantial evidence to support the challenged convictions and substantial evidence to support the finding that defendant’s affirmative defenses are inapplicable.  PARTIAL DISSENT ASSERTS: I respectfully dissent from the majority’s ruling on the motion to suppress.  Assuming the stop for failure to have permanent license plates was a reasonable mistake of fact, the officer’s failure to check the back window for proof of temporary registration unreasonably extended the detention.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Lee (South) County, Mary Ann Brown, Judge.  SENTENCE VACATED AND REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., Greer, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Opinion by Potterfield, S.J.  (5 pages)

            Derek Westwater challenges the sentence imposed after he pled guilty to delivery of methamphetamine, a class “B” felony.  As part of the plea agreement, the State was supposed to recommend Westwater’s sentence be served concurrent to his sentence in another case.  However, the State was silent on the issue whether the sentence should be served concurrently or consecutively.  Westwater appeals, claiming his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to object when the State breached the plea agreement.  OPINION HOLDS: Westwater has good cause to appeal and, applying State v. Boldon, 954 N.W.2d 62, 69 (Iowa 2021), we consider the merits of his claim the prosecutor breached the plea agreement directly.  We conclude the prosecutor breached the plea agreement, so we remand for resentencing in front of a different judge.

            Certiorari to the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Christopher Kemp, Judge.  WRIT ANNULLED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (4 pages)

            David Evans challenges the denial of his motion for a determination of his reasonable ability to pay restitution.  OPINION HOLDS: We find no error in the district court’s conclusion that a reasonable-ability-to-pay determination is not available for Evans’s restitution orders that are being enforced as civil judgments rather than as criminal restitution.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Heather L. Lauber, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Heard by Bower, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (13 pages)

            Dennis Marshall appeals the district court’s ruling on judicial review affirming the workers’ compensation commissioner’s denial of his request for penalty benefits.  The City of Maxwell with its insurer, EMCASCO Insurance Company (together “the employer”), cross-appeals on the issues of healing period benefits and its request to present additional evidence during the judicial review proceedings.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the employer did not pay Marshall’s healing period benefits late, he is not entitled to penalty benefits.  There is substantial evidence in the record to support the commissioner’s determination of the time period for Marshall’s receipt of healing period benefits.  The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the employer’s request to remand the case to the commissioner for the presentation of additional evidence.  We affirm the district court’s decision affirming the commissioner’s rulings on the issues raised in the appeal and the cross-appeal.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, David P. Odekirk, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (3 pages)

            David Bradford appeals the district court’s dismissal of his second postconviction-relief action.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm because his action is time barred.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Monica Zrinyi Wittig, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Schumacher, J., and Scott, S.J.  Opinion by Scott, S.J.  (9 pages)

                John Kraus appeals his conviction of second-degree theft as a habitual offender and the sentence imposed.  He argues the court erred in instructing the jury on an aider and abettor theory of liability, the evidence was insufficient to support the conviction, and the court abused its discretion by imposing a prison sentence.  OPINION HOLDS: We find no error in the court’s inclusion of an aiding and abetting instruction, the evidence was sufficient to support the conviction, and no discretionary abuse in sentencing has been shown.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Brendan E. Greiner and Cynthia M. Moisan, District Associate Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and May, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (5 pages)

            Lauren Schulte appeals her guilty pleas and sentence following convictions for two operating-while-intoxicated offenses, claiming she has good cause to appeal her guilty plea, the plea was unknowing and involuntary, and the court’s acceptance of the guilty plea was plain error.  She also argues the sentencing court abused its discretion in sentencing her to prison and ordering the terms be served consecutively.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm Schulte’s convictions, judgment and sentence. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Thomas A. Bitter, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Greer and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (4 pages)

            Eric Campbell Jr. appeals his resentences for convictions of first-degree robbery and voluntary manslaughter following resentencing.  He claims that his resentencing counsel was ineffective and that his sentence is illegal.  OPINION HOLDS: Error was not properly preserved for Campbell’s due process complaints as there was no objection at trial.  His ineffective-assistance claims are preserved for postconviction relief but cannot be decided on direct appeal.  Because risk assessment tools are statutorily allowed as “pertinent information,” his sentence is not illegal based on the court’s use of those tools.