2022 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Celene Gogerty, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, P.J.  (6 pages)

            Devon Webster appeals following his guilty plea to four misdemeanor counts.  He contends his plea was involuntary because the court failed to inform him of the 15% surcharge imposed on the fine for each count and the district court committed sentencing error in the manner in which it imposed the surcharges.  OPINION HOLDS: Webster failed to establish good cause to challenge his guilty plea, so his conviction is affirmed.  The district court properly imposed the 15% surcharge on all charges and properly suspended those surcharges in their entirety when it suspended all fines.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Mary E. Chicchelly, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Bower, C.J., Tabor, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Chicchelly, J., takes no part.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (11 pages)

            Sarah Barke appeals the dismissal of her breach-of-contract claim against D&D Real Estate Holdings, LC based on D&D’s motion for summary judgment.  OPINION HOLDS: We find D&D’s failure to renew a rental agreement does not constitute retaliatory action and Barke did not generate a jury question on her contract or Iowa Code section 562A.27B (2020) claims.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Hancock County, DeDra Schroeder, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (20 pages)

            Titan Pro SCI, Inc. (Titan) brought a lawsuit against former employees Dan Fulton and Eric Muff, who created New Ag Basics, LLC (collectively, the appellants), and others.  The appellants moved to compel arbitration, relying on arbitration provisions in both a purchase agreement and mutual general release between just Fulton and Titan.  The district court denied the motion, which the appellants challenge.  They argue the court wrongly concluded Titan’s claims against them do not fall within the scope of the two arbitration clauses.  More specifically, they claim the district court improperly placed the burden on them to prove that the claims were suitable for arbitration—rather than placing the burden on Titan to prove the claims were not suitable; Titan’s legal claims “touch on” matters covered by the broad arbitration provisions, which is enough to compel arbitration; and Muff and New Ag Basics, LLC have a sufficiently close relationship to Fulton to enforce the arbitration provisions in agreements Fulton entered into with Titan.  The appellants ask us to dismiss Titan’s lawsuit with prejudice or, in the alternative, stay it pending arbitration.  OPINION HOLDS: The arbitration clauses in the purchase agreement and mutual general release are not susceptible to an interpretation that covers Titan’s claims under breach-of-contract or any tort theories.  Therefore, we agree with the district court’s denial of the appellants’ motion to compel arbitration.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dallas County, Randy V. Hefner, Judge. AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Tabor, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (5 pages)

            Waller appeals the denial of his postconviction-relief application, alleging plea counsel provided ineffective assistance when counsel failed to advise him of potential defenses to kidnapping, allowed him to plead guilty where there was no factual basis for second-degree kidnapping, failed to file an appeal, and did not request any sentence other than prison.  OPINION HOLDS: We agree with the district court Waller failed to prove counsel breached any duty in representing him and his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim thus fails. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, John D. Telleen, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Tabor, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Doyle, S.J.  (6 pages)

            Lloyd Morrison appeals his conviction following his guilty plea to assault with intent to commit sexual abuse causing bodily injury.  He argues the district court should have, sua sponte, ordered a pre-sentencing competency evaluation and the court’s failure to do so violated his right to due process.  OPINION HOLDS: On our de novo review, and after applying applicable factors, we find no specific facts about Morrison's competence that required the court to order a hearing on its own motion under Iowa Code section 812.3 (2020).  Morrison is entitled to no relief in this appeal.  Thus, we affirm his conviction and sentence.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Brook Jacobsen, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J. (7 pages)

            Trevell Bruce appeals the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence, alleging a constitutional violation of his right against unreasonable seizures.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s suppression ruling and Bruce’s conviction, judgment, and sentence for eluding.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Monona County, Steven J. Andreasen, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Bower, C.J., Tabor, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Tabor, J.  (16 pages)

            A cotenant in two parcels of farmland appeals the district court’s partition in kind of heirs property.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the district court properly applied the legislation and its division of the property was both practicable and equitable, so we affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Buchanan County, David P. Odekirk, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (4 pages)

            David Smith appeals his ten-year prison sentence, arguing instead he should have been given a suspended sentence conditioned on his participation in a residential facility, substance-abuse treatment, and drug court supervision.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find no abuse of the district court’s discretion or any defect in its sentencing procedure, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeanie Vaudt, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (7 pages)

            Kristen Marie Knauss appeals the child custody and physical care provisions of a divorce decree.  The decree maintained joint legal custody while awarding primary physical care to the child’s father, David Michael Wnuk.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the court ruled consistently with the best interests of the child, we affirm its physical care and custody determinations.  We decline to award the requested attorney fees to either party.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Marshall County, Bethany J. Currie, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Tabor, J., and Gamble, S.J.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (5 pages)

            Dillyn Howard appeals his convictions for first-degree robbery and assault while using or displaying a dangerous weapon.  OPINION HOLDS: Substantial evidence supports Howard’s convictions for first-degree robbery and assault while using or displaying a dangerous weapon, and we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Steven J. Andreasen, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Bower, C.J., Tabor, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Doyle, S.J.  (9 pages)

            Marshall Hill appeals the entry of an amended order for military retired pay (MRPDO).  The decree and original MRPDO employed, under In re Marriage of Benson, 545 N.W.2d 252 (Iowa 1996), Marshall’s years of service in the formula dividing his military retirement benefits.  The amended order utilizes Marshall’s accrued reserve points in the division formula, as required by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.  Marshall contends the amended MRPDO impermissibly modifies the property-division provisions of the decree dissolving his marriage to Lori Hill.  OPINION HOLDS:  The reserve points Marshall accrued during the marriage accurately reflects the military retirement benefits he accrued during the marriage.  His years of service does not.  So, using points rather than years in the division formula does not conflict with, but follows, the decretal court’s intent to divide the military benefits accrued during the marriage.  We therefore conclude there is no impermissible modification of the property division.  We affirm the district court.    

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Sioux County, Jeffrey A. Neary, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Tabor, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Blane, S.J.  (10 pages)

            In this dissolution action, the husband appeals the district court determination that the parties’ destination wedding ceremony in Costa Rica did not establish a common law marriage and that parties’ legal ceremony in Las Vegas was the date of marriage.  So the pre-marital agreement signed after the Costa Rica ceremony but before Las Vegas marriage was valid and applicable to the division of the parties’ property in dissolution.  OPINION HOLDS: On de novo review, we agree with the district court and affirm.