Filed Mar 02, 2022
View Opinion No. 21-1818
View Summary for Case No. 21-1818
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Harrison County, Jennifer Benson Bahr, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS. Considered by Tabor, P.J., Schumacher, J., and Potterfield, S.J. Opinion by Potterfield, S.J. (9 pages)
A mother and father separately appeal the termination of their parental rights. OPINION HOLDS: We affirm on both appeals.
Filed Mar 02, 2022
View Opinion No. 21-1909
View Summary for Case No. 21-1909
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Mary Jane Sokolovske, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Greer, P.J., Chicchelly, J., and Doyle, S.J. Opinion by Doyle, S.J. (6 pages)
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her children. OPINION HOLDS: Clear and convincing evidence supports termination of the mother’s parental rights under Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(h) (2021), and termination is in the children’s best interests.
Filed Mar 02, 2022
View Opinion No. 21-1933
View Summary for Case No. 21-1933
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, Stephen A. Owen, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Bower, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Chicchelly, JJ. Opinion by Bower, C.J. (9 pages)
A father appeals the termination of his parental rights. OPINION HOLDS: Because grounds for termination exist, further extension of time is unwarranted, the child needs and deserves to live in a drug and violence-free home, and the father-child bond does not weigh against termination, we affirm.
Filed Mar 02, 2022
View Opinion No. 21-1943
View Summary for Case No. 21-1943
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jasper County, Steven J. Holwerda, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS. Considered by May, P.J., and Schumacher and Badding, JJ. Opinion by Schumacher, J. (14 pages)
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to two children. She claims termination is not in their best interest and that the court should have declined to terminate her rights based on permissive exceptions. E.W., a minor child, contends termination is not in her best interest, a permissive exception should be applied, and the district court improperly excluded her from a portion of the termination hearing. The guardian ad litem for E.W. also appeals, contending termination is not the least restrictive option available. OPINION HOLDS: We find termination was in the children’s best interest and the permissive exceptions are insufficient to preclude termination in this case. Finally, E.W.’s claim is not properly before our review. We affirm.
Filed Mar 02, 2022
View Opinion No. 21-1978
View Summary for Case No. 21-1978
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Hancock County, Karen Kaufman Salic, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS. Considered by May, P.J., and Schumacher and Badding, JJ. Opinion by May, P.J. (5 pages)
A mother and father separately appeal the termination of their respective parental rights. OPINION HOLDS: We affirm because clear and convincing evidence supports termination, and we decline to apply a permissive exception to termination.
Filed Mar 02, 2022
View Opinion No. 21-1991
View Summary for Case No. 21-1991
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Stephanie Forker Parry, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ. Opinion by Ahlers, J. (4 pages)
A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights. OPINION HOLDS: The mother failed to preserve error on her claims, and even if error was preserved, she waived the issues she attempts to raise.
Filed Mar 02, 2022
View Opinion No. 22-0144
View Summary for Case No. 22-0144
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Cynthia S. Finley, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ. Opinion by Greer, J. (6 pages)
The mother appeals the termination of her parental rights. She purports to challenge the statutory ground for termination and argues the loss of her parental rights is not in the child’s best interests. OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the termination of the mother’s parental rights.
Filed Feb 22, 2022
View Opinion No. 21-0992
View Summary for Case No. 21-0992
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Davis County, William Owens, Associate Juvenile Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Bower, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Chicchelly, JJ. Opinion by Bower, C.J. (9 pages)
The father, Q.B., appeals the appointment of a guardian for his seventeen-year-old child, B.B., contending the statutory requirements for appointment of a guardian have not been met and the court did not properly consider the parental preference. OPINION HOLDS: On our de novo review, we disagree with both contentions. We affirm.
Filed Feb 16, 2022
View Opinion No. 19-0911
View Summary for Case No. 19-0911
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, William P. Kelly, Judge. REVERSED IN PART, AFFIRMED ON CONDITION IN PART, AND REMANDED. Heard by Bower, C.J., Tabor, J., and Mullins, S.J. Opinion by Bower, C.J. (20 pages)
Anthony Mong appeals his convictions for attempted murder, intimidation with a dangerous weapon, willful injury causing bodily injury, and going armed with intent. OPINION HOLDS: Because Mong did not have the benefit of the Plain/Lilly/Veal line of cases, and because he is entitled to access the information needed to enforce his constitutional right to a jury trial and was not given access to that information, we will remand to give him an opportunity to develop his arguments. We affirm in the court’s denial of Mong’s motion to compel. Finally, there is no evidence of a specific intent to harm or kill Shane Woods and, thus, there is insufficient evidence to support the charges of for attempted murder, intimidation with a dangerous weapon, and willful injury causing bodily injury. We reverse those convictions. We conditionally affirm the conviction for going armed with intent and remand the matter to the district court for development of the record on the challenge to the composition of the jury. Following development of the record, we direct the district court to determine whether Mong’s constitutional right to a representative jury was violated. If so, the court shall grant a new trial.
Filed Feb 16, 2022
View Opinion No. 19-1649
View Summary for Case No. 19-1649
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Page County, Margaret Reyes and Jeffrey L. Larson, Judges. AFFIRMED. Heard by Tabor, P.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ. Opinion by Tabor, P.J. (23 pages)
Toby McCunn appeals his conviction for murder in the first degree. He contends (1) the court did not properly instruct the jury on justification; (2) the court should have moved the trial from Page County; (3) the jury was biased because the court failed to strike a juror for cause; and (4) the court should have excluded prior bad acts evidence. OPINION HOLDS: We find no basis for reversal in the jury instructions, the court’s decision not to change venue, its refusal to strike juror R.Y. for cause, or the admission of prior bad acts evidence. So we affirm.
Filed Feb 16, 2022
View Opinion No. 19-1715
View Summary for Case No. 19-1715
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Robert B. Hanson, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Bower, C.J., Vaitheswaran, J., and Danilson, S.J. Opinion by Danilson, S.J. (8 pages)
Michael Lajeunesse appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief (PCR), contending his trial and appellate counsel were ineffective. OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the denial of Lajeunesse’s PCR application.
Filed Feb 16, 2022
View Opinion No. 20-0323
View Summary for Case No. 20-0323
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cass County, Jeffrey L. Larson, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., May, J., and Vogel, S.J. Opinion by May, J. (2 pages)
David Boggs appeals an order denying his motion to extinguish his restitution obligation. OPINION HOLDS: Boggs raised an identical argument in a prior appeal, in which we affirmed. Because his claims are identical, we affirm again and without further opinion.