May 2022 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Warren County, Brendan Greiner and Kevin Parker, District Associate Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and May, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  Partial Dissent by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (21 pages)

            Santos Rene Torres appeals his conviction for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, second offense.  He contends the district court should have granted his suppression motion, arguing an illegal seizure and a Miranda violation.  Alternatively, he contends there was insufficient evidence of intoxication to support his conviction.  OPINION HOLDS: Police were lawfully in the Torres home conducting a child-endangerment investigation.  During that investigation, officers acquired reasonable suspicion that Torres had been driving while intoxicated.  Torres was not subject to custodial interrogation.  So the district court correctly denied the suppression motion.  Finally, the State’s evidence supported the district court’s determination of guilt.  PARTIAL DISSENT ASSERTS: I agree there was substantial evidence to support the district court’s determination that Torres operated a motor vehicle while intoxicated.  But I would reverse the suppression ruling.

            Certiorari to the Iowa District Court for Poweshiek County, Rose Anne Mefford, District Associate Judge.  WRIT SUSTAINED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and May, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (5 pages)

            William Renken appeals the district court’s denial of his motion for a jail credit under Iowa Code section 903A.5 (2019), contending the district court erred in “failing to order credit for time served in another county.”  OPINION HOLDS: We sustain the writ and remand for entry of an order confirming Renken’s completion of his Poweshiek County sentence. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Warren County, Randy V. Hefner and Thomas P. Murphy, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by May, P.J., Badding, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Badding, J. (6 pages)

            Justin Steil appeals several criminal convictions, following guilty pleas, and the imposition of consecutive sentences upon two of his convictions.  OPINION HOLDS: Steil agrees supreme court precedent defeats his ability to challenge the effectiveness of his counsel, and we conclude the court provided sufficient reasons for its decision to impose consecutive sentences.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Paul D. Scott, Judge.  APPEAL DISMISSED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (7 pages)

            Willie Jeffries appeals the denial of his seventh petition for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: Jeffries missed the appeal deadline and does not provide a sound explanation for his extreme delay.  We dismiss for want of jurisdiction.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cedar County, Stuart P. Werling, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by May, P.J., and Schumacher and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by May, P.J.  (5 pages)

            Michael Billick appeals the denial of his Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.1012 petition as untimely.  OPINION HOLDS: Billick failed to preserve error on his claim that an Iowa Code section 236.5(2) (2019) petition amounted to an Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.904 motion and, therefore, the one-year period for filing his rule 1.1012 petition did not start until the section 236.5 petition was denied.  Billick also failed to preserve error on his claim that his rule 1.1012 petition was timely due to a tolling provision in an Iowa Supreme Court supervisory order.  Without consideration of these arguments, we cannot conclude Billick’s rule 1.1012 petition was timely.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Zachary Hindman, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., May, J., and Vogel, S.J.  Opinion by Vogel, S.J.  (8 pages)

            Jena and Ricardo Reyes (Reyes) appeal the denial of their motion for additional time to designate an expert witness and the grant of summary judgment in favor of the defendants on their medical-malpractice claim.  OPINION HOLDS: Reyes did not show substantial compliance with the expert-designation deadline or good cause for missing the deadline.  Thus, the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Reyes’s motion for additional time to designate an expert witness.  Because Reyes lacked an expert witness, the court did not err in granting summary judgment in favor of the defendants.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeanie K. Vaudt, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (10 pages)

            ConAgra Foods, Inc. appeals two findings by the Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commission: (1) that Leslie Moore sustained a permanent impairment to his hip and lower back resulting from an injury on the job and (2) that the work-related injury led to a forty-percent industrial disability.  OPINION HOLDS: Considering the commissioner’s credibility determinations and applying the deferential standards of review, we affirm both findings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Tod J. Deck, Judge.  ONGOING-CRIMINAL-CONDUCT CONVICTION AND SENTENCE VACATED, REMAINING SENTENCES AFFIRMED, AND REMANDED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J. (10 pages)

            Gary Dains contends on appeal that the district court erred in denying his motion for judgment of acquittal as to his ongoing-criminal-conduct charge and that the district court abused its discretion in deciding his sentence.  OPINION HOLDS: Because there is insufficient evidence to convict Dains of the ongoing-criminal-conduct charge, we vacate that conviction and sentence and remand for dismissal.  The court did not abuse its discretion in sentencing Dains on his remaining convictions.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Joel W. Barrows, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (11 pages)

            A former wife appeals the declaratory judgment adopting the former husband’s interpretation of his spousal support obligation following an unexpected disbursement of pension proceeds as a lump sum rather than the anticipated annuity.  The district court credited the husband with the lump sum against his spousal support, suspending that obligation for a period of approximately three years.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we strive to give effect to the decree, we agree with the district court’s sentiment that given the payout under the pension’s terms, we can’t “put the genie back in the bottle.”  By our reading, the decree and our earlier decision intended for proceeds from the pension to offset Kurt’s support obligation.  And the district court’s ruling honors that intent.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, William P. Kelly, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., Badding, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Opinion by Potterfield, S.J.  (5 pages)

            Roberto Villasenor appeals the summary dismissal of his application for postconviction relief, arguing the court erred in rejecting his claims of newly-discovered evidence and equitable tolling.  OPINION HOLDS: Villasenor has failed to rebut the State’s showing it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Scott D. Rosenberg, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Vaitheswaran, J., and Danilson, S.J.  Opinion by Danilson, S.J.  (10 pages)

            Michael Lajeunesse appeals the dismissal of his second application for postconviction relief (PCR).  He argues the court erred in finding his claims of ineffective assistance of criminal trial counsel were procedurally barred by Iowa Code section 822.8 (2019).  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude the claims Lajeunesse pinpoints in this appeal were procedurally barred.  We affirm the dismissal of Lajeunesse’s second PCR application.     

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Boone County, John R. Flynn, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, J.  (6 pages)

            Clay Paulson appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief, claiming his trial attorney was ineffective (1) in failing to “properly object to hearsay regarding” text messages and properly preserve the issue for appellate review and (2) in failing to “file a motion to suppress” under State v. Ingram, 914 N.W.2d 794 (Iowa 2018).  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the postconviction court’s denial of Poulson’s postconviction-relief application.