February 2023 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

              Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Tama County, Chad Kepros, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON APPEAL; REVERSED AND REMANDED ON CROSS-APPEAL.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Schumacher, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Carr, S.J.  (13 pages)

           Robert Thede appeals the district court decision denying his request for postconviction relief (PCR).  The State cross-appeals the court’s grant of relief on a sentencing issue.  OPINION HOLDS: Thede has not shown he received ineffective assistance because defense counsel did not adequately explain to him the rights he was giving up by waiving his right to a jury trial or because defense counsel did not fully advise him regarding a proposed plea agreement where he would have pled guilty to indecent exposure.  We find Thede did not prove he was prejudiced by counsel’s failure to object during the sentencing hearing and reverse the PCR court’s grant of relief on that ground.

              Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Craig M. Dreismeier, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Badding, J., and Vogel, S.J.  Opinion by Vogel, S.J.  (6 pages)

              John Osborn appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief.  He argues his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to certain witness testimony as beyond the scope of the minutes of evidence and to admission of the criminal complaint as hearsay.  OPINION HOLDS: Osborn failed to show ineffective assistance of counsel, as he failed to show his trial counsel breached an essential duty or prejudice resulted. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Bradley J. Harris, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Badding, J.  (9 pages)

A defendant appeals his conviction for second-degree kidnapping, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the confinement-or-removal element of the crime.  OPINION HOLDS: Considering the totality of the facts in the light most favorable to the trial court’s decision, we find substantial evidence to support the second-degree kidnapping conviction.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Wright County, Colleen Wieland, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Schumacher and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (6 pages)

            Saul Duran-Sierra appeals his conviction for third-degree sexual abuse.  He contests the bench-trial verdict and contends a pretrial delay of nearly two years denied him due process.  OPINION HOLDS: On the first claim, we find substantial evidence to support the verdict, especially given the court’s credibility finding.  We decline to reach the second claim because Duran-Sierra did not preserve his constitutional challenge.  We thus affirm his conviction.

              Petition for writ of certiorari from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeffrey D. Farrell, Judge.  WRIT ANNULLED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Ahlers, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Buller, J., takes no part.  Opinion by Doyle, S.J.  (8 pages)

              William Roland challenges the postconviction-relief ruling denying his challenge to the sex offender treatment program requirements as violating his constitutional rights against self-incrimination.  OPINION HOLDS: We do not find sufficient public interest in the issues presented in Roland’s postconviction action to warrant our consideration of the case in the face of the mootness of those issues.  Because the district court properly denied Roland’s application for post-conviction relief, we annul the writ of certiorari granted by the supreme court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Marshall County, John J. Haney, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Bower, C.J., and Vaitheswaran and Tabor, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (12 pages)

            Robert Joseph Thomas appeals his convictions for first-degree murder and attempted murder following a bench trial.  He asserts there is insufficient evidence he was the perpetrator of the shootings that resulted in injuries to Devonte Brooks and the death of Johnqwez Lewis.  OPINION HOLDS: Because there is substantial evidence from which a rational factfinder could find Thomas was the perpetrator of the shootings, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Kathleen A. Kilnoski, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Bower, C.J., and Ahlers and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (14 pages)

            Hausmann Construction, Inc. (Hausmann) appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company (Nationwide) on Hausmann’s breach-of-contract claim.  OPINION HOLDS: To the extent Hausmann intends to make a claim against Nationwide in order to recover against another party insured by Nationwide, Iowa Code section 516.1 (2021) bars its claim.  To the extent Hausmann seeks to recover from Nationwide as an additional insured under an insurance policy, the policy language does not require coverage from Nationwide until Hausmann “becomes legally obligated to pay as damages” the expenses it now seeks to recover.  Because Hausmann was not legally obligated to pay the expenses as damages, the Nationwide policy does not cover the expenses.

              Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Robert Hanson, Judge.  VACATED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., Badding, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Opinion by Potterfield, S.J.  (4 pages)

              Kami Lillibridge pled guilty to possession of a controlled substance, first offense (marijuana).  Without a hearing or making any pertinent findings, the district court entered an order notifying Lillibridge she was being stripped of her firearm rights.  Lillibridge appeals, arguing the district court cannot prohibit her from acquiring or carrying a firearm without first making a finding that she meets the criteria of an “unlawful user or addict” under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(3).  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude Lillibridge has good cause for this appeal.  And, with the State’s concession that it “cannot defend the substance of the notice of firearms prohibition on the existing record,” we vacate the firearm prohibition and remand for further proceedings to give the State an opportunity to establish a factual basis. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Patrick H. Tott, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Chicchelly and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, P.J.  (9 pages)

            Shauna Honn appeals from the decree dissolving her marriage.  She challenges the amount of home equity allocated to her in the property equalization payment as well as the district court’s liquidation valuation of an LLC to be divided and accounted for in the equalization payment.  OPINION HOLDS: This district court equitably divided the equity in the home and fairly valued the LLC.  So we do not disturb the property equalization payment.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Celene Gogerty and David Nelmark, Judges.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED. Heard by Tabor, P.J., and Schumacher and Ahlers, JJ.  PER CURIAM.  (12 pages)

            Jaysen McCleary appeals the district court’s denial of his motions to dismiss and the court’s grant of summary judgment establishing liability in this defamation action, and he requests a new damages trial on several grounds.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court did not err in denying McCleary’s motions to dismiss or in granting summary judgment establishing liability.  However, the court abused its discretion when it denied McCleary’s motion to continue trial because it conflicted with surgery McCleary required to treat a recent and severe injury.  We grant a new trial as to damages only.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Sarah Crane, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, P.J.  (8 pages)

            An employer and its insurer appeal a judicial review decision affirming the workers’ compensation commissioner’s award of benefits to an employee.  OPINION HOLDS: The employer and insurer were not entitled to apportionment of the employee’s partial disability following a workplace fall because the employee had a preexisting condition not a preexisting disability.

              Certiorari to the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Bradley J. Harris, Judge.  WRIT ANNULLED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Tabor, J., and Scott, S.J.  Opinion by Scott, S.J.  (6 pages)

              Bradly Anthony Woods was granted certiorari to challenge the constitutionality of the limited retroactivity period of Iowa Code section 902.12 (2019 Iowa Acts ch. 140, § 8, now codified at § 902.12(3)).  OPINION HOLDS: Because Woods is not in fact similarly situated to the class of persons in the limited retroactive period, he fails to meet the threshold test of an equal-protection challenge.  We annul the writ.