Filed Oct 05, 2022
View Opinion No. 22-0102
View Summary for Case No. 22-0102
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Webster County, Jennifer Miller, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Greer and Chicchelly, JJ. Opinion by Greer, J. (9 pages)
Kristi Durschmidt appeals the dismissal of her contest to her father’s trust based on claims of a lack of testamentary capacity and undue influence. OPINION HOLDS: Because Kristi has not proved Randall lacked testamentary capacity or was unduly influenced, and has either waived or failed to preserve error on her other issues, we affirm the district court.
Filed Oct 05, 2022
View Opinion No. 22-0123
View Summary for Case No. 22-0123
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Jeffrey D. Bert, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ. Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J. (6 pages)
A mother appeals the district court’s decree granting joint physical care of her child between her and the child’s father. OPINION HOLDS: We conclude the district court acted equitably in granting the parents joint physical care of the child.
Filed Oct 05, 2022
View Opinion No. 22-0332
View Summary for Case No. 22-0332
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clinton County, Mark R. Lawson, Judge. REVERSED AND REMANDED. Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ. Opinion by Greer, J. (12 pages)
Dieter Schewe appeals the denial of his motions for new trial or additur following a jury award of medical expense damages and disputes the taxation of certain costs. OPINION HOLDS: We reverse and remand on the issue of the medical expense damages and allow for a conditional new trial if additur is not accepted. We also reverse on the assessment of the $100 deposition fee and $5 reproduction fee that were taxed as costs to Schewe.
Filed Oct 05, 2022
View Opinion No. 22-0470
View Summary for Case No. 22-0470
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Kimberly Ayotte, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Ahlers, P.J., Badding, J., and Carr, S.J. Opinion by Carr, S.J. (7 pages)
A mother appeals the juvenile court order terminating her parental rights. OPINION HOLDS: We find there is clear and convincing evidence in the record to support termination, an extension of time would not be proper in this case, termination is in the child’s best interests, and an exception to termination should not be applied. We affirm the decision of the juvenile court.
Filed Oct 05, 2022
View Opinion No. 22-0474
View Summary for Case No. 22-0474
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Stuart P. Werling, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ. Opinion by Chicchelly, J. (5 pages)
Thanh Van Nguyen appeals the district court’s denial of his motion in arrest of judgment. He alleges his guilty plea was not entered knowingly and voluntarily because his written guilty plea was not translated into Vietnamese for him. OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we find no abuse of discretion and affirm the district court’s decision.
Filed Oct 05, 2022
View Opinion No. 22-0516
View Summary for Case No. 22-0516
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clinton County, Kimberly K. Shepherd, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ. Opinion by Badding, J. (10 pages)
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her three children. OPINION HOLDS: We find termination was authorized under Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(f) (2021), termination is in the children’s best interests, and the urged permissive exceptions to termination do not apply.
Filed Oct 05, 2022
View Opinion No. 22-0573
View Summary for Case No. 22-0573
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Kimberly Ayotte, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ. Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J. (5 pages)
A father appeals a district court order terminating his parental rights to three children. He contends (1) the State did not prove the grounds for termination cited by the court; (2) termination was not in the children’s best interests; (3) the court should have granted an exception to termination based on the parent-child bond; (4) he should have been afforded additional time to facilitate reunification; and (5) the court should have granted the district court concurrent jurisdiction to allow the children’s mothers to obtain appropriate custody orders. OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the order terminating the father’s parental rights to his three children.
Filed Oct 05, 2022
View Opinion No. 22-0630
View Summary for Case No. 22-0630
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Jeffrey D. Bert, Judge. APPEAL DISMISSED. Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ. Opinion by Chicchelly, J. (4 pages)
Justin Pries appeals his conviction based on an alleged defect in his plea proceedings. He contends the district court failed to engage in a sufficient plea colloquy, which violated his constitutional rights. OPINION HOLDS: As Pries has not demonstrated a potential ground for relief to support an appeal from a guilty plea, we are without jurisdiction to hear the appeal, and it must be dismissed.
Filed Oct 05, 2022
View Opinion No. 22-0953
View Summary for Case No. 22-0953
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Daniel L. Block, Associate Juvenile Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Bower, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Tabor, JJ. Opinion by Bower, C.J. (5 pages)
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights, asserting it is not in the children’s best interests. OPINION HOLDS: We affirm.
Filed Oct 05, 2022
View Opinion No. 22-1096
View Summary for Case No. 22-1096
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, Stephen A. Owen, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Bower, C.J., and Tabor and Chicchelly, JJ. Opinion by Tabor, J. (11 pages)
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights. She contends the State failed to present clear and convincing evidence of the statutory grounds for termination, that the Department of Health and Human Services did not make reasonable efforts to reunify her with the child, and the juvenile court should have determined a permissive factor precluded termination. OPINION HOLDS: We agree with the findings of the juvenile court. Because K.S.’s mother failed to embrace services to address her substance abuse and mental health, we find a statutory ground satisfied. The DHHS acted appropriately in providing visitation services. And no permissive factor prevented termination. So we affirm.
Filed Oct 05, 2022
View Opinion No. 22-1149
View Summary for Case No. 22-1149
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dallas County, Virginia Cobb, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ. Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J. (5 pages)
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to a child born in 2009. She (1) challenges the evidence supporting the grounds for termination cited by the district court, including the efforts made by the department of health and human services to facilitate reunification; (2) argues termination was not in the child’s best interests; and (3) contends the court should have granted an exception to termination based on “a close bond” with family members. OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the order terminating the mother’s parental rights to the child.
Filed Oct 05, 2022
View Opinion No. 22-1218
View Summary for Case No. 22-1218
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Carroll County, Joseph B. McCarville, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS. Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ. Opinion by Schumacher, J. (11 pages)
A mother and father each appeal the juvenile court order terminating their parental rights. OPINION HOLDS: We find an extension of time should not be granted in this case, termination of the parents’ rights is in the children’s best interests, no exceptions to termination should be applied, and the parents did not preserve their claims regarding reasonable efforts. We affirm the termination of the parental rights of the mother and father.