2022 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Andrea J. Dryer, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.  Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Badding, J.  (10 pages)

            Larry Twigg appeals the denial of his application to modify sex-offender-registry requirements under Iowa Code section 692A.128 (2020).  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude the district court erred in determining that Twigg did not meet the threshold statutory requirements to modify his sex-offender-registry obligations.  Because those requirements were met, but we cannot determine whether the court exercised its discretion in the second step of the modification process, we remand this matter to the court. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Marshall County, Kim Riley, District Associate Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., Chicchelly, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Carr, S.J.  (4 pages)

            Jeremy Mathrole appeals the denial of his application to modify his sex offender registration requirement.  OPINION HOLDS: The trial court erred in requiring all the applicant’s evaluation scores to be “low risk.”   We reverse and remand to reconsider the threshold criteria without such a requirement.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Buena Vista County, Shayne Mayer, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Ahlers, J., and Vogel, S.J.  Opinion by Vogel, S.J.  (4 pages)

            Santos Rosales Martinez appeals the dismissal of his application for postconviction relief (PCR) and the denial of his motion for a private investigator.  OPINION HOLDS: His PCR application is not timely, and he cannot show a reasonable need for a private investigator.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Joel Dalrymple, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Heard by Tabor, P.J., and Schumacher and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (21 pages)

            Tenko Wilde appeals his convictions for continuous sexual abuse of a child, indecent contact with a child, and four counts of second-degree sexual abuse.  He contends there was insufficient evidence for five of his six convictions.  He also argues the district court abused its discretion in allowing the state to admit bad-acts evidence for identity, motive, and intent purposes.  And he claims the court erred in relying on inadmissible hearsay testimony from two witnesses.  OPINION HOLDS: Because there is substantial evidence in the record for each count, we find sufficient evidence for Wilde’s convictions.  We agree that the bad-acts evidence was inadmissible but find the error harmless.  We also agree that the hearsay testimony was inadmissible.  We find this error prejudicial as to one of Wilde’s second-degree sexual-abuse counts and reverse and remand for a potential new trial for that count.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Floyd County, DeDra Schroeder, Judge.  SENTENCE VACATED AND REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., Greer, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Blane, S.J.  (13 pages)

                Michael Ahrenholz appeals his prison sentence arguing the sentencing judge considered unproven and unadmitted facts, and the county attorney breached the plea agreement by not advocating for a suspended sentence and by introducing victim impact statements that argued for sentence other than the plea agreement.  And he complains about the lack of advanced notice of the victim impact statements.  OPINION HOLDS: The prosecutor did not undermine the plea agreement regarding victim impact statements, but did violate the agreement by failing to advocate adequately for its adoption by the court.  The court did not consider an unproven fact from the victim impact statements in determining sentence.  We vacate the sentence and remand for resentencing before a different judge. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Des Moines County, Mark Kruse, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Gamble, S.J.  Opinion by Gamble, S.J.  (9 pages)

            Timothy Pross appeals his convictions for first-degree arson and second-degree burglary.  He challenges the sufficiency of the evidence and the district court’s decision to not redact references to “new charges” made during a jailhouse phone call.  OPINION HOLDS: Pross’s convictions are supported by substantial evidence.  When heard in context, the references to “new charges” clearly referenced the charges in the present case.  The district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting the phone call recording without redaction.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Samantha Gronewald, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (3 pages)

            Michael Earl Hilson appeals the dismissal of his third application for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: Because his claims have previously been decided or are time-barred under Iowa Code section 822.3 (2021), we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeanie Vaudt, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Tabor, J., and Danilson, S.J.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (13 pages)

            An Indiana-based expert witness orthopedic surgeon challenges the denial of his motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by an Iowa attorney alleging fraud, breach of contract, and other claims.  He argues the Iowa courts do not have personal jurisdiction over him based on his review of medical records provided by the attorney.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find the doctor’s preliminary evaluation of the attorney’s case, conducted entirely in Indiana, does not create an Iowa connection that would support jurisdiction, we reverse and remand for an order dismissing the action for lack of personal jurisdiction. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Thomas Bitter, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Schumacher, J., and Scott, S.J.  Opinion by Scott, S.J.  (8 pages)

            Mark Douglas Morgan appeals the summary dismissal of his pro se application for postconviction relief (PCR).  OPINION HOLDS: Because Morgan has not alleged facts entitling him to PCR relief, the district court did not err in dismissing the PCR application.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Samantha Gronewald, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, P.J.  (7 pages)

            Valarie Badia appeals a summary judgment ruling in favor of O’Reilly Auto Enterprises concluding her attorney had authority to settle a workers’ compensation claim on her behalf.  OPINION HOLDS: Summary judgment was inappropriate because there is a genuine question of material fact whether Badia authorized her attorney to accept a settlement offer on her behalf.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Marshall County, John R. Flynn, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Chicchelly, J., and Scott, S.J.  Opinion by Scott, S.J.  (4 pages)

            Richard Kent Graw appeals the dismissal of his application for postconviction relief (PCR).  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude Graw has failed to prove either that plea counsel was ineffective or his claim of actual innocence.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Warren County, Bradley Mccall, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Schumacher and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  Tabor, P.J., specially concurs. (11 pages)

            Jason Noggle appeals his conviction for sex abuse in the third degree.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the district court did not err by overruling Noggle’s objection to the victim’s journal on hearsay grounds and finding the journal was admissible.  Even if the court erred, however, the admission of the journal was not prejudicial as the evidence was cumulative to other evidence in the record.  We also find there was sufficient evidence in the record to support the verdict.  We affirm Noggle’s conviction. SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: I respectfully disagree that the district court properly admitted C.S.’s journal entry under the hearsay exception for recorded recollections.  As the majority notes, Iowa Rule of Evidence 5.803(5) allows such a record to be received as an exhibit only if offered by an adverse party.  That element is not satisfied here.