2021 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Monroe County, Shawn Showers, Judge.  CONVICTIONS AFFIRMED; SENTENCES AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher. JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (26 pages)

            Barbara Pasa appeals her convictions for first-degree murder and first-degree arson, arguing the jury verdict is not supported by sufficient evidence and the district abused its discretion in declining to find the verdict to be contrary to the weight of the evidence.  She also raises a sentencing error and claims ineffective assistance of her trial counsel.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm Barbara’s convictions for first-degree murder and first-degree arson.  We remand for entrance of an order eliminating the mandatory minimum portion of her sentence requiring her to serve 70% of her arson sentence before eligibility for parole or work release.  We preserve Barbara’s ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims for future postconviction-relief proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Keokuk County, Crystal S. Cronk, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (6 pages)

            Jesse Monroe Millikin appeals the district court order denying his motion to dismiss the petition for civil commitment filed against him, arguing the petition was barred by claim preclusion.  OPINION HOLDS: Millikin has not satisfied the second element of his claim-preclusion defense, and we find no error in the district court’s denial of Millikin’s motion to dismiss based on that defense.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Henry County, Mary Ann Brown, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Tabor and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (6 pages)

            James Nicholson appeals his conviction for maintaining a premises for drugs, asserting violations of the speedy-indictment rule and the constitutional guarantee against prosecutorial delay.  OPINION HOLDS: Because Nicholson failed to raise these issues before the district court, we find he did not preserve error and affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Carroll County, Gina C. Badding, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., and May and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  Partial Dissent by Schumacher, J.  (19 pages)

            Christy Bohac appeals, and Kevin Bohac cross-appeals, the decree dissolving their marriage.  Christy argues the district court erred in crediting Kevin with assets inherited from his father and failing to award her medical and dental insurance.  She requests an award of appellate attorney fees.  On cross-appeal, Kevin contests the spousal support award.  OPINION HOLDS: The assets contained in or purchased with funds flowing from Kevin’s inheritance were traceable to his father’s estate and properly set aside to Kevin.  The traditional spousal support award was appropriate and does not warrant a supplement to pay Christy’s medical and dental insurance costs.  We decline to award appellate attorney fees.  Court costs shall be divided equally between the parties.  PARTIAL DISSENT ASSERTS: I respectfully dissent in part from the majority opinion as to the duration of Kevin’s spousal support obligation.  Equity requires Kevin’s spousal support obligation terminate upon either party’s death, Christy’s remarriage, or Kevin’s retirement, whichever occurs first.  Christy was awarded sufficient retirement assets to live comfortably following Kevin’s retirement.  I concur in all other aspects of the majority opinion.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeffrey D. Farrell, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Tabor and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (9 pages)

            Lance Gordon appeals the district court order granting defendant Wells Fargo Bank, N.A.’s motion for summary judgment.  On appeal, Gordon argues (1) a material dispute of fact precluded granting the summary judgment motion; (2) the district court erred by determining Gordon’s managers could not be individually sued; and (3) Gordon is entitled to recover under Iowa Code chapter 91A (2018) for the commissions he was entitled to within thirty days of his termination.  OPINION HOLDS: No issue of material fact precluded granting summary judgment.  Gordon has not established he was performing his work satisfactorily, so he does not meet the second element of a prima facie case for race discrimination.  Even if he had shown a prima facie case, he cannot show the defendant’s proffered justification for its actions was pretext.  The district court properly dismissed Gordon’s individual managers as defendants.  Finally, Gordon is not entitled to recover under Iowa Code chapter 91A.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Scott J. Beattie, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (6 pages)

            Troy Lee Mure Jr. appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief, contending his trial counsel and postconviction counsel rendered ineffective assistance of counsel.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s denial of Mure’s ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims and his postconviction-relief application.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Kellyann M. Lekar, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Blane, S.J.  (9 pages)

            Kelvin Plain Jr. appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief following pleas to possession of a controlled substance and eluding.  He contends trial counsel was ineffective in being unprepared for trial and threatening to withdraw if Plain did not plead guilty.  Next, he argues he was coerced into pleading guilty when he did not want to.  And finally he argues counsel caused him to lose time served on prior criminal cases when she had him plead guilty before the parole revocation hearing on the prior cases.  OPINION HOLDS: We find Plain has not carried his burden to show Smith breached any essential duty, either by threatening to withdraw, forcing him to take the plea, or causing him to lose time served with his parole revocation.  We affirm denial of postconviction relief.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Tama County, Sean McPartland, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Scott, S.J.  Opinion by Scott, S.J.  (5 pages)

                Michael Ferguson appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief (PCR).  He argues the court erred in denying his freestanding claim of actual innocence.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the denial of Ferguson’s PCR application.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jasper County, Thomas P. Murphy, Judge.  REVERSED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (13 pages)

            L.W. appeals the district court’s grant of a sexual abuse protective order against him, petitioned for by N.H. on behalf of her minor child, L.W., pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 236A (2020).  OPINION HOLDS: Because N.H. failed to prove that sexual abuse occurred by a preponderance of the evidence, we reverse the district court’s issuance of the chapter 236A protective order.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dallas County, Virginia Cobb, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Doyle, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Doyle, J.  (12 pages)

            A father appeals the termination of his parental rights to his child under Iowa Code section 600A.8(3)(b) (2019).  He challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the statutory ground for termination.  He also asserts the district court erred in ordering him to pay one-half the guardian ad litem’s fees.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s ruling terminating the father’s parental rights.  We affirm the court’s ruling requiring the parties to share equally in payment of the guardian ad litem fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, Stephen A. Owen, District Associate Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Heard by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and May, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (10 pages)

            Guardians appeal the termination of a minor guardianship.  OPINION HOLDS: Termination of the guardianship would be harmful to the child.  The harm suffered by the child outweighs the parent’s interest in terminating the guardianship.  So we reverse the juvenile court’s termination of the guardianship and remand for entry of an order reinstating the guardianship.  We do not award the parent any attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Butler County, Chris Foy, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Doyle, P.J., and Mullins and May, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  (6 pages)

            K.B. appeals the district court’s order of continued commitment under Iowa Code chapter 229 (2019).  OPINION HOLDS: The evidence is insufficient to establish K.B. is a danger to himself or others.  We reverse and remand for termination of K.B.’s outpatient commitment.