October 2024 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, James N. Daane, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, P.J.  (6 pages)

            A jury found Leon Bearshield guilty of child endangerment causing bodily injury.  On appeal, Bearshield maintains he was denied his constitutional right to testify; he asks us to reverse his conviction and remand for new trial.  The State characterizes the issue differently, noting Bearshield had the opportunity to present a defense—including his own testimony—during his case-in-chief and chose not to do so  Thus, the State maintains the appropriate question on appeal is whether the district court abused its discretion in denying Bearshield’s motion to reopen the record—not whether the court prevented Bearshield from exercising his constitutional right to testify.  OPINION HOLDS: We agree with the State that the issue properly before us is whether the district court abused its discretion in denying Bearshield’s motion to reopen the record.  Following our review, we find no abuse of discretion and affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Mills County, Richard H. Davidson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., Langholz, J., and Vogel, S.J.  Opinion by Vogel, S.J.  (8 pages)

            A criminal defendant appeals the denial of postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: Wilson’s trial and appellate counsel did not breach any essential duties by not objecting to the State’s experts or the burden of proof during the criminal trial, and Wilson’s insufficient briefing on appeal waives his ineffective-assistance arguments relating to his life sentences.  We therefore affirm the PCR court. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Monona County, Tod Deck, Judge.  CONVICTIONS AFFIRMED, SENTENCE VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS.  Heard by Greer, P.J., Langholz, J., and Gamble, S.J.  Opinion by Gamble, S.J. (25 pages)

            A criminal defendant contests the exclusion of evidence under Iowa Rule of Evidence 5.412, asserts the district court erred in denying his request for a voluntary-participation instruction, challenges the sufficiency of the evidence for one offense, and claims the district court exceeded its authority in sentencing.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the district court did not abuse its discretion by excluding the evidence under rule 5.412 or in denying his requested instruction, and sufficient evidence supports the conviction of sexual exploitation of a minor.  We sever and vacate part of the sentence and remand for entry of a corrected sentencing order.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Kellyann M. Lekar, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, C.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (12 pages)

            Berwanger moves for postconviction relief on two claims of ineffective assistance of counsel.  The appellant claims that his trial counsel was ineffective because trial counsel did not impeach the complaining child witness and failed to object to vouching testimony.  OPINION HOLDS: We find that the inconsistencies between the child’s trial testimony, deposition, and CPC interview were minor and unlikely to change the outcome of the case.  In addition, the testimony of the expert witness did not rise to the level of vouching testimony.  We affirm on both grounds.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Valerie L. Clay, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Ahlers, P.J., Sandy, J., and Telleen, S.J.  Opinion by Ahlers, P.J.  (11 pages)

            Ishmael Carter challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his convictions for arson in the first degree and five counts of attempted murder.  He argues the State failed to present sufficient evidence establishing he was the person who set an apartment on fire and intended to cause the death of the apartment’s occupants.  OPINION HOLDS: The State provided substantial evidence establishing identity and intent.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Scott J. Beattie, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, C.J., Badding, J., and Carr, S.J.  Buller, J., takes no part.  Opinion by Carr, S.J.  (8 pages)

            William Roland appeals from the district court’s denial of his application for postconviction relief (PCR) related to his criminal conviction in Polk County, arguing his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to the lack of unanimity in the charge and jury verdict and failing to consult experts for his defense.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s denial of Roland’s application for PCR.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Margaret Reyes, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., Badding, J., and Danilson, S.J.  Opinion by Danilson, S.J. (7 pages)

            Angres Kau appeals his conviction for attempted murder after he stabbed his wife.  He argues he could not form the required specific intent due to his intoxication.  OPINION HOLDS: The State established substantial evidence that Kau had the ability to form specific intent and had the specific intent to kill his wife when he stabbed her in the back with a knife.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Story County, John J. Haney, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., and Ahlers and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  (10 pages)

            Skyler McKasson appeals the district court’s declaratory judgment that an employee of Brown’s Heavy Equipment did not have consent to drive Brown’s truck when it was in an accident with McKasson and thus that Brown’s is not liable under Iowa Code section 321.493(2)(a) (2021) and the employee was uninsured by Cincinnati Insurance Company.  OPINION HOLDS: This declaratory judgment action was tried to the court at law—not in equity.  So we review only for corrections of errors at law—not de novo as urged by McKasson.  Thus, the district court’s factual findings are binding on us if supported by substantial evidence.  Because we agree that substantial evidence supports the district court’s finding that the employee lacked consent to drive Brown’s truck, we affirm the court’s declaratory judgment.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Coleman McCallister, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  Langholz, J., takes no part.  (12 pages)

            Inmate Calling Solutions, LLC appeals from the district court’s denial of its application for judicial review of an agency proceeding.  OPINION HOLDS: Inmate Calling Solutions waived its statutory-authority challenges by not raising them before submitting a bid.  The parties involved did not violate the terms of the request for proposal.  The decision to issue the notice of intent to a competitor of Inmate Calling Solutions was not arbitrary and capricious, without a rational basis, or an abuse of discretion.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Heather Lauber, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, C.J., Buller, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Doyle, S.J.  (3 pages)

            Tony Hyde appeals his conviction for second-degree murder.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court did not abuse its discretion in denying Hyde’s motion for new trial.  The weight of the evidence does not show that Hyde was justified based on the severity of the beating he administered to an unconscious victim.  And Hyde’s voluntary intoxication cannot reduce a charge of second-degree murder, which does not require proof of specific intent.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clinton County, John Telleen and Patrick A. McElyea, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, C.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, C.J.  Telleen, S.J., takes no part. (5 pages)

            Carlton Douglas appeals his convictions for first-degree murder and possession of a firearm as a felon.  He alleges that two jury instructions misstated the law on self-defense and the two charges should have been severed for trial.  He also urges that his appeal is a candidate for plain-error review.  OPINION HOLDS: Douglas’s trial counsel did not preserve error on either issue.  And we can no longer consider claims of ineffective assistance of counsel on direct appeal.  Finally, we cannot overrule supreme court precedent to adopt plain-error review.  So, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Andrew Chappell, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON APPEAL AND CROSS-APPEAL.  Heard by Greer, P.J., Langholz, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  (15 pages)

            A former high school tennis coach, Amie Villarini, appeals a summary judgment ruling dismissing her defamation and wrongful-discharge claims against the Iowa City Community School District arising out of the school district’s online publication of an unabridged video of a public school board meeting, during which two students made purportedly defamatory statements about her.  The school district cross-appeals the denial of its motion to amend its answer to assert a qualified-immunity defense.  OPINION HOLDS: The fair-report privilege defeats Villarini’s defamation claim against the school district because the video recording is an accurate and complete report of an official proceeding.  Villarini’s common-law wrongful-discharge-in-violation-of-public-policy claim fails because she has not identified a clearly defined public policy.  And because the district court properly granted summary judgment on the defamation claim, the school district’s motion to amend its answer to raise an additional qualified-immunity defense was properly denied as moot.