December 2022 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Daniel L. Block, Associate Juvenile Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Badding, J.  (7 pages)

            A mother who abandoned her two children to the care of their maternal grandmother several years ago appeals the termination of her parental rights under Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(e) and (f) (2022).  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the termination of the mother’s parental rights.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, David F. Staudt, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (6 pages)

            The juvenile court terminated the mother’s parental rights to four of her children under Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(f) (the oldest three) and (h) (the youngest at issue) (2022).  On appeal, the mother challenges the statutory grounds for termination, claiming the children could have come home at the time of the termination hearing.  In the alternative, she maintains she should get more time to work toward reunification.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the children could not be returned to the mother’s custody and further delay is not in the children’s best interests, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Robert B. Hanson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Schumacher, J., and Scott, S.J.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (3 pages)

            Arnez Harris appeals the denial of his motion to correct illegal sentence.  OPINION HOLDS: Harris has no outstanding fees or costs on his prior postconviction claim, and any claims on his remaining convictions that qualify should be brought in an Iowa Code section 910.7 (2020) petition.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Warren County, Randy V. Hefner, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Danilson, S.J.  Opinion by Danilson, S.J.  (5 pages)

            Matthew Clarke appeals the dismissal of his second application for postconviction relief (PCR) as untimely.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the court’s denial of Clarke’s second PCR application.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Tamra Roberts, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Ahlers, P.J., Chicchelly, J., and Gamble, S.J.  Opinion by Gamble, S.J.  (6 pages)

            Demetrias Martin appeals his sentence following resentencing.  On appeal, he challenges the district court’s consideration of the Iowa Risk Assessment Revised (IRR) and argues it is not a validated risk assessment.  OPINION HOLDS: Because Martin failed to make a record sufficient to challenge the validity of the IRR, we cannot review its validity and do not disturb his sentence.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Wapello County, Joel D. Yates, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Ahlers, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Doyle, S.J.  (5 pages)

            Dalton Cook appeals his conviction and sentence on a charge of willful injury causing serious injury.  OPINION HOLDS: I. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to upholding the verdict, a reasonable fact finder could conclude Cook aided and abetted in the shooting that establishes Cook’s willful-injury conviction.  II. We reject Cook’s claim that the district court imposed an illegal sentence by failing to merge his willful-injury and robbery convictions for the same reasons we rejected an identical claim raised on direct appeal by his codefendant.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Scott D. Rosenberg, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., Greer, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (7 pages)

            Kimberly Bjugan appeals the equalization payment she received from her dissolution of marriage decree from Robert Allen, claiming the payment was too low to be equitable.  Robert cross-appeals, claiming the equalization payment was too high to be equitable.  Kimberly also requests appellate attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the district court’s equalization payment was fair and equitable for both parties under the circumstances, we affirm.  We decline to award appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dickinson County, Andrew J. Smith, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Bower, C.J., and Vaitheswaran, Tabor, Greer, Ahlers, Badding, and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (21 pages)

            Neil Wenzel appeals the denial of his motion to suppress the results of a chemical analysis for controlled substances and drugs, as well as his subsequent conviction of operating while intoxicated (OWI), second offense.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the chemical analysis for controlled substances and drugs was both allowed under the warrant and supported by probable cause, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Jason D. Besler, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Greer and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (28 pages)

            Iowa Interstate Railroad, Ltd. appeals the denial of its motions for summary judgment, new trial, and judgment notwithstanding the verdict and the district court’s award of attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: We cannot review the district court’s denial of summary judgment.  We find no error or abuse of discretion in what was preserved for our review apart from the district court’s award of copying costs as part of attorney fees; so, we reverse only the award of copying costs but otherwise affirm.  We remand for a determination of appropriate appellate attorney fees. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeff Farrell, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (8 pages)

            Yarvon Russell appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief, alleging three claims of ineffective assistance of trial counsel, as well as a claim of actual innocence.  OPINION HOLDS: I. Two of Russell’s ineffective-assistance claims are too speculative to find prejudice.  Aggregating all three alleged errors does not lead us to find a reasonable probability that the result would have changed if counsel had performed differently.  II. Russell has not shown by clear and convincing evidence that no reasonable fact finder could convict him to establish his actual innocence.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Monica Ackley, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Greer and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J. (9 pages)

            Fontae Buelow appeals his conviction for second-degree murder, challenging (I) the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the jury’s finding of guilt; (II) the district court’s denial of his motion for new trial; and (III) the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress a statement he made to police.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s denial of Buelow’s suppression motion and his judgment and sentence for second-degree murder.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Ringgold County, Richard B. Clogg, Judge.  APPREAL DISMISSED.  Heard by Tabor, P.J., and Schumacher and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (4 pages)

            Fitzgerald appeals the imposition of a one-year no-contact order.  He claims insufficient evidence supports a finding he acted with the requisite intent for domestic abuse.  He also challenges the district court’s rulings on discovery requests.  OPINION HOLDS:  We find Fitzgerald’s claims are moot.  As such, we dismiss the appeal.