2022 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Andrea Dryer, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by May, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Mullins, S.J.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (8 pages)

            Mar’yo Lindsey appeals the district court’s denial of his postconviction relief application.  OPINION HOLDS: Lindsey failed to preserve error on one of his ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims.  All others are denied on their merits.  We do not reach the merits of Lindsey’s claims regarding the district court’s refusal to keep the record open to obtain testimony from an alleged alibi witness who was subpoenaed for the hearing but failed to appear.  The denial of his application is affirmed.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Lawrence P. McLellan, Judge.  AFFIRMED AND REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (8 pages)

            Joshua McDonald appeals from the dismissal of his application for postconviction relief (PCR).  Despite the fact he was not convicted, but instead held in contempt, McDonald argues that he is entitled to PCR.  Alternatively, he argues the case should have proceeded as a habeas corpus claim.  OPINION HOLDS:  Because McDonald was not convicted of a public offense, PCR is not available to him.  We affirm the dismissal and remand to address the motions still pending in his contempt case. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Andrea Dryer, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Schumacher, P.J., and Badding, J., and Gamble, S.J.   Opinion by Schumacher, P.J. (17 pages)

            Quintarius Brown appeals his convictions and sentences for first-degree murder and first-degree robbery.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the district court did not err by overruling Brown’s hearsay objections.  The court did not abuse its discretion by permitting the State to present evidence of Brown’s Facebook messages or a video Brown sent to a friend.  The court properly denied Brown’s motion for new trial.  The court did not abuse its discretion in ordering Brown to serve consecutive sentences.  We affirm Brown’s convictions and sentences.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Floyd County, Chris Foy, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED AND REMANDED.  Considered by May, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Mullins, S.J.  Opinion by Mullins, S.J.  (15 pages)

            Brandon McCabe appeals, and Lori McCabe cross-appeals, the decree dissolving their marriage.  Brandon argues the district court erred in failing to enforce the parties’ premarital agreement, inequitably distributing property, modifying the amount of child-support, and awarding attorney fees.  Lori argues on cross-appeal that the district court erred in failing to award spousal-support, a premarital property credit should not have been given, and the district court miscalculated Brandon’s income for the purposes of child support.  OPINION HOLDS: On our de novo review of the record, we find the parties’ prenuptial agreement was unconscionable at the time of execution and is unenforceable.  The district court’s property distribution appropriately considered the value of assets the parties brought to the marriage as a factor in its exercise of equitable distribution.  The distribution of real property was equitable.  The district court’s award of child support was appropriate and equitable, but we modify the decree to vacate the upward deviation and remand to the district court for further proceedings.  Following our consideration of the property distribution, we agree that no spousal support was warranted.  We affirm the award of trial attorney fees and find each party should be responsible for their own appellate attorney fees.  Costs on appeal shall be split equally between the parties.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Delaware County, Thomas A. Bitter, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Schumacher, P.J., Badding, J., and Gamble, S.J.  Opinion by Gamble, S.J.  (16 pages)

            Todd Mullis appeals his conviction for first-degree murder.  He challenges the sufficiency of the evidence and the district court’s denial of his motion for new trial.  OPINION HOLDS: The State presented sufficient evidence of Mullis’s guilt.  And the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion for new trial.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Paul D. Scott, Judge.  REVERSED.  Heard by Schumacher, P.J., and Ahlers, J., and Mullins, S.J.  Opinion by Schumacher, P.J.  (13 pages)

            Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. (Nationwide) appeals the assessment for tax purposes of its property by the Polk County Board of Review (Board).  The district court affirmed the Board’s valuation.  OPINION HOLDS: Nationwide presented evidence from two disinterested witnesses to support its claim the actual value of the property was less than the assessed value and the burden then shifted to the Board to uphold the assessment.  The Board did not meet its burden because its experts did not rely on the sales approach to value the property.  Nationwide entered into a minimum assessment agreement that established the minimum actual value of the property and we determine this amount is the tax assessment value for the property.  We reverse the decision of the district court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Emmet County, Carl J. Petersen, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Bower, C.J., Vaitheswaran, J., and Mullins, S.J.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, J.  Greer, J., takes no part.  (6 pages)

            Plaintiffs appeal the district court’s order granting summary judgment in favor of defendants.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude the loss sustained by plaintiffs was outside the remaining defendants’ scope of liability as a matter of law.  Accordingly, the district court did not err in granting their summary judgment motions.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cherokee County, Nancy Whittenburg, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by May, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Vogel, S.J.  Opinion by Vogel, S.J.  (3 pages)

            Thomas Ruthers appeals the dismissal of his petition for judicial review of the treatment decision of the Iowa Department of Human Services, Civil Commitment Unit for Sex Offenders.  OPINION HOLDS: Ruthers did not preserve an argument regarding an annual review under Iowa Code section 229A.8 (2020).  Even if his argument were preserved, he did not file in the correct court for judicial review of an annual review.  Furthermore, in the record before us and the issues properly presented on appellate review, we find no due process violation.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Benton County, Chad A. Kepros, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by May, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Mullins, S.J.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (7 pages)

            Malea Merchant appeals the grant of summary judgment in favor of Garrett Wilson on the basis of defective service of original notice.  OPINION HOLDS: We find no genuine issue of material fact that the manner of service of original notice on Wilson was defective.  Serving Wilson’s mother at her residence at a time when Wilson did not live there is not effective substitute service.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Monica Zrinyi Wittig, Judge.  CONVICTIONS AFFIRMED, AMENDMENT TO SENTENCING ORDER VACATED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Tabor and May, JJ.  Opinion by May, J. (12 pages)

            Patrick Booker appeals his conviction for third-degree sexual assault and the district court’s amended sentence.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the verdict was supported by sufficient evidence and the district court did not err in evidentiary rulings or juror challenges, we affirm the conviction.  But because the district court did not have jurisdiction to amend Booker’s sentence, we vacate the sentencing amendment.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Melissa Anderson-Seeber, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Greer, P.J., Badding, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Opinion by Badding, J.  (14 pages)

            Susan Erlandson appeals an adverse summary judgment ruling dismissing her petition to modify the property and spousal support provisions of the decree dissolving her marriage.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the district court correctly concluded it lacked authority to entertain the modification action, we affirm its summary judgment ruling. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Michael J. Shubatt, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.  Heard by Schumacher, P.J., and Badding, J., and Gamble, S.J.  Opinion by Badding, J.  (14 pages)

            A propane distributor appeals a district court ruling affirming the Dubuque County Board of Review’s determination that three above-ground fuel storage tanks on its commercial property were taxable under Iowa Code section 427A.1 (2020).  OPINION HOLDS: Because the record shows the tanks were not attached to the property under section 427A.1(3) and thus not taxable as real property, we reverse the district court’s ruling and remand with instructions.