2023 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Michael D. Huppert, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Ahlers, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Carr, S.J.  (7 pages)

            Quntonio Herron Jr. appeals the sentence entered following his guilty plea to two counts of homicide by vehicle by reckless driving, one count of serious injury by vehicle by reckless driving, and one count of leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death.  He contends the trial court must have considered the content of emotion-laden victim impact statements delivered in the course of the sentencing hearing.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the district court properly relied on the appropriate factors in sentencing Herron and there is no evidence of it abusing its discretion by considering impermissible factors, we affirm the sentence. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, Chris Foy, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (7 pages)

            Kevin Clasing appeals asset-division and spousal-support provisions in the decree dissolving his marriage to Kitty Clasing.  OPINION HOLDS: After weighing all pertinent factors, we find the district court equitably distributed marital assets and awarded spousal support.  Upon our review, we affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Scott D. Rosenberg, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Schumacher and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Badding, J.  (7 pages)

            Kevin Martinez appeals the sentences imposed following his plea of guilty to two counts of intimidation with a dangerous weapon.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding no abuse of discretion, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Sioux County, Jeffrey A. Neary, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Tabor, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (8 pages)

            Lyle Kooiker appeals the order modifying the portion of the special master’s report addressing the valuation of farmland in the residue of his mother’s estate.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the district court correctly determined that the special master’s recommendation to value the farmland based on its appraised value at the date of death was erroneous, we affirm the order modifying the report to use a date-of-distribution valuation, which honors the testator’s intent.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Marion County, Martha L. Mertz, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Schumacher and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (3 pages)

            An applicant appeals the dismissal of his application for postconviction relief, arguing equitable tolling should be applied to save his application from dismissal based on the statute of limitations.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the applicant failed to preserve error on his equitable tolling claim.  Accordingly, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Grundy County, Andrea J. Dryer, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Schumacher and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Badding, J.  (10 pages)

            Brian York appeals the decree granting physical care of two minor children to Katelyn Heikens.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the relevant factors do not weigh in favor of joint physical care based on the parties’ current no-contact order and Brian’s history of conflict and lack of respect for Katelyn, we affirm the district court’s decision to place physical care of both children with Katelyn.  We award Katelyn $4000 in appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Warren County, Kevin Parker, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (7 pages)

            The mother appeals the termination of her parental rights under Iowa Code chapter 600A (2021).  OPINION HOLDS: Because we agree that the mother abandoned her child and failed to pay child support and we find termination is the child’s best interest, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Audubon County, Richard Davidson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Tabor, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (8 pages)

                Marty Paul Bintner appeals the modification of the decree dissolving his marriage to Sheila Von Johnson.  OPINION HOLDS: Because Sheila established a substantial change of circumstance that renders the original spousal support award grossly unfair, we affirm the court’s order extending the support obligation.  We also affirm the trial court’s award of attorney fees and award her appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Michael Hooper, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Schumacher, P.J., Langholz, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Doyle, S.J.  (7 pages)

            Jeffrey A. Daugherty appeals the order denying his request to modify the physical care provisions of the decree dissolving his marriage to Tammy J. Daugherty, n/k/a Tammy J. Ryan-Zuniga.  He contends a substantial change in circumstances warrants modifying joint physical care of the parties’ two youngest children to grant him physical care.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we agree that continuing the joint-physical-care arrangement set forth in the modification order serves the best interests of the two younger children, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, Steven P. Van Marel, District Associate Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., Schumacher, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Greer, P.J.  (7 pages)

            Jissel Gomez-Torres challenges the district court’s denial of her motion to suppress and subsequent conviction for operating while intoxicated, arguing that the traffic stop of her vehicle was not supported by reasonable suspicion.  OPINION HOLDS: The deputy had reasonable suspicion to support his stop of Gomez-Torres’s vehicle through his observation of Gomez-Torres driving down the middle of two lanes over their dashed dividing line, weaving within her lane and touching the center and edge lines, varying her speed to twenty miles per hour below the speed limit, almost missing her exit, and driving over the gore area while crossing the solid white line to make that turn.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Washington County, Joel D. Yates, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED ON APPEAL AND CROSS-APPEAL.  Heard by Schumacher, P.J., Langholz, J., and Gamble, S.J.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  (11 pages)

            William Pence and Molly Myren appeal from the denial of their requests to modify the child-custody and joint-physical-care provisions of their dissolution-of-marriage decree.  OPINION HOLDS: Myren’s 300-mile move is a substantial change in circumstances warranting modification of the joint-physical-care provisions of the decree.  We grant Myren physical care and remand to the district court to determine appropriate modifications of visitation and child support.  The parties will retain joint legal custody.  And we decline to award appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Grundy County, John J. Sullivan, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Chicchelly and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (5 pages)

            Brittney Arends appeals the order modifying the visitation provisions of the custody decree concerning two children she shares with Kevin Daniels.  OPINION HOLDS: The change in Kevin’s work schedule is a material change in circumstances that warrants modifying the decree to allow him midweek and expanded weekend visits, which serves the children’s best interests.  Because Brittney failed to show a material change of circumstances that warrants modifying summer visitation, we affirm the denial of her modification request.  We decline to award Brittney appellate attorney fees.