Filed Aug 30, 2023
View Opinion No. 21-1880
View Summary for Case No. 21-1880
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Steven J. Andreasen, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Bower, C.J., and Tabor and Greer, JJ. Opinion by Tabor, J. (3 pages)
Elvin Farris appeals the summary disposition of his postconviction challenge to a traffic violation. OPINION HOLDS: Because the district court considered all issues raised by Farris and we approve of the court’s analysis, we affirm by memorandum opinion.
Filed Aug 30, 2023
View Opinion No. 22-0066
View Summary for Case No. 22-0066
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Chickasaw County, Richard D. Stochl, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Ahlers, P.J., Badding, J., and Blane, S.J. Opinion by Ahlers, P.J. (9 pages)
John Rapenske appeals his conviction for operating while intoxicated, second offense, challenging the denial of his motion to suppress. Rapenske claims all evidence from a traffic stop should have been suppressed because the stop violated his Fourth Amendment right against unreasonable seizure. OPINION HOLDS: Although the investigating officer acted on second-hand information from a 911 caller who relayed information supplied by his wife who was following Rapenske, the officer had reasonable suspicion to stop Rapenske in this instance. So Rapenske’s Fourth Amendment rights were not violated, and the district court correctly denied the motion to suppress.
Filed Aug 30, 2023
View Opinion No. 22-0192
View Summary for Case No. 22-0192
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Marion County, Dustria A. Relph, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Ahlers, P.J., Badding, J., and Mullins, S.J. Opinion by Ahlers, P.J. (13 pages)
Chad Bennett challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions for stalking, conspiracy to commit stalking, tampering with a witness, and conspiracy to commit tampering with a witness. He also claims the presiding judge should have recused herself. OPINION HOLDS: Bennett’s convictions are supported by sufficient evidence. The presiding judge did not abuse her discretion by denying Bennett’s motion for recusal.
Filed Aug 30, 2023
View Opinion No. 22-0349
View Summary for Case No. 22-0349
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Scott D. Rosenberg, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Bower, C.J., and Tabor and Greer, JJ. Opinion by Tabor, J. (6 pages)
A defendant appeals his five-year prison sentence, claiming that the district court abused its sentencing discretion. OPINION HOLDS: Because we find the district court appropriately weighed the applicable sentencing factors, we affirm.
Filed Aug 30, 2023
View Opinion No. 22-0386
View Summary for Case No. 22-0386
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Tamra Roberts, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Tabor, P.J., Buller, J., and Mullins, S.J. Opinion by Mullins, S.J. (9 pages)
Jason Huddleston appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief, contending the district court should have ordered that his now discharged sentence should be recalculated by the Iowa Department of Corrections or, alternatively, he is entitled to relief because his “guilty plea was premised on a false impression of the prospective sentence rendering it involuntary and unknowing” and his criminal attorney was ineffective in relation to his plea. OPINION HOLDS: Finding Huddleston is not entitled to any relief on appeal, we affirm.
Filed Aug 30, 2023
View Opinion No. 22-0396
View Summary for Case No. 22-0396
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Sioux County, Daniel P. Vakulskas, District Associate Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Tabor, P.J., Greer, J., and Scott, S.J. Opinion by Scott, S.J. (5 pages)
Jack Harold Smith Jr. appeals the denial of his motion to suppress evidence obtained from a traffic stop. OPINION HOLDS: Because Officer Koedam observed a traffic violation, he had probable cause to stop Smith. Smith’s constitutional rights to be free from an unreasonable seizure and search were not violated.
Filed Aug 30, 2023
View Opinion No. 22-0407
View Summary for Case No. 22-0407
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Patrick R. Grady, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Schumacher and Ahlers, JJ. Opinion by Ahlers, J. (6 pages)
Michael Lehman appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief. He claims his plea counsel was ineffective for failing to request a competency hearing. OPINION HOLDS: Lehman failed to prove that his plea counsel breached an essential duty because counsel had no reason to seek a competency evaluation. Further, Lehman failed to prove prejudice by failing to prove that a competency evaluation would have likely found him incompetent.
Filed Aug 30, 2023
View Opinion No. 22-0418
View Summary for Case No. 22-0418
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Andrew B. Chappell, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Bower, C.J., and Tabor and Greer, JJ. Opinion by Greer, J. (9 pages)
Tiamo Blackcloud appeals the dismissal of his PCR application as untimely. OPINION HOLDS: Because the application was filed six years after conviction and fails to raise a ground of fact that could not have been raised during the three-year statute of limitations period, we affirm the PCR court’s dismissal.
Filed Aug 30, 2023
View Opinion No. 22-0522
View Summary for Case No. 22-0522
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Osceola County, Shayne Mayer, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Bower, C.J., and Tabor and Greer, JJ. Opinion by Tabor, J. (22 pages)
Derek White appeals his convictions for neglect of a dependent person and two counts of child endangerment. He seeks reversal based on five issues: (1) closed-circuit testimony by two child witnesses violated his right to confrontation under the Iowa Constitution; (2) the State did not prove that he caused the child’s injuries or had custody when they were inflicted; (3) the district court erred by denying his request for a jury instruction approved in civil cases; (4) the court abused its discretion by not clarifying the marshalling instructions in response to a jury question; and (5) the court erred in finding he had the reasonable ability to pay over $10,000 in category “B” restitution. OPINION HOLDS: Finding no constitutional violation, substantial evidence to support the verdicts, and proper instructions for the jury, we affirm his convictions. We also uphold the restitution order.
Filed Aug 30, 2023
View Opinion No. 22-0530
View Summary for Case No. 22-0530
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Allamakee County, Richard D. Stochl, Judge. JUDGMENT AND SENTENCE CONDITIONALLY AFFIRMED; RULING ON NEW TRIAL MOTION VACATED IN PART AND REMANDED. Considered en banc. Opinion by Ahlers, J. Special Concurrence by Tabor, J. (23 pages)
James Rethwisch appeals his conviction for assault with intent to commit sexual abuse. He (1) challenges the sufficiency of the evidence, (2) claims the jury improperly considered the State’s closing argument, (3) claims the district court applied the wrong standard when ruling on his motion for new trial based on the weight of the evidence, (4) argues the district court improperly submitted the case to the jury on a Friday afternoon, and (5) argues the court should have granted his motion for new trial based on newly discovered evidence. OPINION HOLDS: Rethwisch’s claims regarding closing arguments and the timing of submission of the case to the jury are not preserved for our review. His conviction is supported by substantial evidence. The district court did not abuse its discretion when denying the motion for new trial based on newly discovered evidence. As to Rethwisch’s claim that the district court applied the wrong standard when considering his motion for new trial based on the weight the evidence, he failed to alert the court the he believed the court applied the incorrect standard. However, because our past case law could have led defense counsel to believe nothing more was required to preserve error than what counsel did here, we treat Rethwisch’s claim as preserved. The district court did apply the incorrect standard when ruling on his motion for new trial based on the weight of the evidence. We conditionally affirm and remand to the district court for application of the correct weight-of-the-evidence standard. SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: I concur with the opinion in all respects except its discussion of error-preservation requirements on claims the district court applied the incorrect standard when ruling on a motion for new trial based on the weight of the evidence. However, I agree we should treat Rethwisch’s claim as preserved and agree the district court applied the incorrect standard.
Filed Aug 30, 2023
View Opinion No. 22-0556
View Summary for Case No. 22-0556
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Davis County, Crystal S. Cronk, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Bower, C.J., and Schumacher and Ahlers, JJ. Opinion by Ahlers, J. (17 pages)
Andrew Wulf appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief. He claims he received ineffective assistance from his trial counsel in several respects. OPINION HOLDS: Wulf failed to establish any ineffective-assistance claim that would entitle him to postconviction relief.
Filed Aug 30, 2023
View Opinion No. 22-0569
View Summary for Case No. 22-0569
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Decatur County, Thomas P. Murphy, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Ahlers, P.J., Badding, J., and Doyle, S.J. Opinion by Doyle, S.J. (8 pages)
Joseph Vanderflught appeals two convictions for attempt to commit murder. OPINION HOLDS: We cannot consider claims of ineffective assistance of counsel on direct appeal. We find no abuse of discretion in the district court’s ruling admitting text messages into evidence and in allowing the lead detective to sit at counsel table during voir dire. Substantial evidence supports the finding that Vanderflught was not justified in shooting at the occupants of a passing vehicle. Finding no merit in any of individual claim of error, there is no basis for reversing Vanderflught’s convictions for cumulative error.