2021 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Boone County, Stephen A. Owen, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., Greer, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Blane, S.J.  (6 pages)

            Michael Shawn Heck appeals his conviction of assault causing bodily injury.  He contends substantial evidence does not support the conviction and his attorney was ineffective in failing to object to a jury instruction.  OPINION HOLDS: We find substantial evidence supports the verdict.  We are without authority to hear the ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim in this direct appeal.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Mary E. Howes, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Greer and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (5 pages)

            Christopher McAfee was convicted of invasion of privacy and assault.  He was required to register as a sex offender.  In his application for postconviction relief, McAfee argues trial counsel was ineffective for failing to notify him about the registration requirement.  OPINION HOLDS: McAfee did not show that his counsel performed deficiently.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Henry County, John M. Wright, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  Special Concurrence by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (11 pages)

            Robert Sinn appeals the denial of postconviction relief following a conviction of sexual abuse in the third degree.  He maintains his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance of counsel by not moving for suppression based on lack of Miranda warnings.  OPINION HOLDS: Sinn was not entitled to Miranda warnings in his conversations with officers before arrest because he was not in custody at the time, and so a suppression challenge would have been meritless.  Counsel did not breach an essential duty.  We affirm the district court’s dismissal of Sinn’s claim for postconviction relief.  SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: An assistant police chief testified a deputy told him Sinn “was a suspect of his” and “to stay with [Sinn] until he got there.”  The police chief’s testimony supports a determination that Sinn was in custody.  But even if counsel had a duty to file a suppression motion, I would find an absence of Strickland prejudice.  Accordingly, I too, would affirm the denial of Sinn’s postconviction-relief application.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Appanoose County, Gregory G. Milani, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Heard by Bower, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, J.  (14 pages)

            Defendants appeal several rulings by the district court on summary judgment with regard to various claims of negligence brought by the Estate of Anthony J. Zdroik.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude there is a genuine issue of material fact as to the status of Brian Ostrowski and John Ostrowski within the limited liability company.  Because the district court resolved the co-employee issue based on election of coverage under Iowa Code section 85.1A and 86.61(11)(c)(5) (2018) rather than their employer status under 86.61(2), we reverse the denial of summary judgment and remand for reconsideration of the issue under section 85.61(2).  If the Ostrowskis are deemed to be co-employees, the court may examine whether one or more of the elements of gross negligence were satisfied as a matter of law.  We reverse the denial of summary judgment as to Steven Runstrom and Phil Gliniecki on the gross negligence claims and remand for entry of judgment of dismissal against them.  We reverse the denial of summary judgment as to Iowa Southern Railway Company on the negligence per se claim and remand for dismissal of the railroad.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Linda M. Fangman, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (4 pages)

            Terrence Gordon appeals his conviction for failure to appear.  OPINION HOLDS: The marshalling instruction accurately stated the law.  We cannot overturn State v. Jackson, 488 N.W.2d 701 (Iowa 1992).  We are prohibited from considering Gordon’s ineffective-assistance claims on direct appeal by Iowa Code section 814.7 (2019).

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, David Nelmark, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED ON APPEAL; AFFIRMED ON CROSS-APPEAL.  Heard by Mullins, P.J., and May and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (15 pages)

            Capital Ideas, LLC and Michael Woody appeal a money judgment in favor of Springboard Advertising LLC and Christina Amys.  Springboard and Amys cross appeal.  OPINION HOLDS: 1. The district court erred in denying Capital Ideas and Woody’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict as to Springboard and Amys’s defamation per se claim.  2. The district court was correct to conclude Woody’s statement that Amys had “no ethics” was protected opinion.  3. The district court did not abuse its discretion by disallowing Springboard and Amys’s proposed amendments to their pleadings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cass County, Jeffrey L. Larson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., May, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by May, J.  (2 pages)

            David Boggs appeals an order denying his motion to extinguish his restitution obligation.  OPNION HOLDS: We affirm without opinion.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Heather Lauber, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Scott, S.J.  Opinion by Scott, S.J.  (4 pages)

            Robert Johnston Jr. appeals the summary disposition of his application for postconviction relief (PCR) on statute-of-limitations grounds.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the denial of Johnston’s PCR application.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, John D. Ackerman, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Vogel, S.J.  Opinion by Vogel, S.J.  (6 pages)

            Keygan Egdorf appeals his sentence and restitution for his conviction for theft in the second degree.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court did not consider an improper factor in sentencing, and we thus find no abuse of discretion in the court’s sentence.  The court erred in delaying a determination of Egdorf’s reasonable ability to pay restitution, and we reverse the delay and remand to provide Egdorf with an opportunity to obtain this determination.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Keokuk County, Shawn R. Showers, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., May, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Opinion by Potterfield, S.J.  (9 pages)

            Brian Allison appeals from the denial of his second application for postconviction relief (PCR).  He argues (1) the district court wrongly concluded his first PCR appellate counsel did not provide ineffective assistance in declining to raise an issue on appeal and (2) the district court should have found a change in law about expert testimony and bolstering credibility rendered certain trial testimony inadmissible and warrants a new trial.  OPINION HOLDS: Allison’s trial counsel did not breach an essential duty in deciding not to attack a witness’s credibility with allegations that witness perpetrated sexual abuse, so Allison’s first PCR appellate counsel had no reason to challenge the first PCR court’s ruling on appeal.  And State v. Dudley, 856 N.W.2d 668 (Iowa 2014) did not announce a new ground of law, so Allison’s second claim also fails.  We affirm the denial of Allison’s second PCR application.

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Lawrence P. McLellan, Judge.  WRIT ANNULLED.  Heard by Bower, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (8 pages)

Zachary Huber appeals the extension of a no-contact order prohibiting him from contacting his former wife.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the district court appropriately considered Huber’s motives as they related to his credibility.  The district court did not err in considering the events leading to Huber’s conviction, nor did it err in finding he failed to meet his burden of proof.  The district court did not err in finding Huber failed to meet his burden of proving he no longer posed a threat to the protected party.  Accordingly, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Washington County, Shawn Showers, Judge.  APPEAL DISMISSED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Greer and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Badding, J.  (4 pages)

            William McCarroll appeals his judgment and sentence following his written guilty plea to felony eluding and operating while intoxicated, first offense.  He raises several ineffective‑assistance-of-counsel claims in challenging his guilty plea and sentence.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we lack authority to decide McCarroll’s claims under Iowa Code sections 814.6 and 814.7 (2020), we must dismiss his appeal.