October 2024 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Monroe County, Greg Milani, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Schumacher, P.J., Chicchelly, J., and Vogel, S.J.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (11 pages)

            Anna Stoner appeals the judgment entered for Kassi and Tyler Taft on her premises liability claim after she was injured while helping the Tafts catch a pony on their property.  OPINION HOLDS: Iowa Code section 673.2 (2020) provides a negligence standard for the liability of owners of domesticated animals rather than an affirmative defense that the Tafts were required to plead.  The activity Stoner was engaged in when she was injured falls under the definition of domesticated animal activity under chapter 673.  Thus, the district court properly instructed the jury on the statute. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dickinson County, Carl J. Petersen, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Schumacher, P.J., Chicchelly, J., and Mullins, S.J. Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (11 pages)

            95 Broadway, LLC appeals the district court’s ruling regarding their alleged easement rights over Linda Geske’s adjoining property.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the court did not err in declining to recognize 95 Broadway’s proposed easement, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dickinson County, Carl J. Petersen, Judge.  AFFIRMED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Tabor, C.J., Langholz, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Sandy, J., takes no part.  Opinion by Potterfield, S.J.  (8 pages)

            Jeremy Eckard appeals the decree dissolving his marriage to Brittney Chapman (formerly Brittney Chapman Eckard).  Jeremy challenges the property distribution, the specifics of the “right of first refusal” provided in the decree, and the court’s order regarding uncovered medical expenses for the parties’ two children.  Brittney asks that we affirm the decree and order Jeremy to pay $5000 of her appellate attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the dissolution decree entered by the district court; we remand for the district court to determine a reasonable award of appellate attorney fees for Brittney.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Plymouth County, Daniel P. Vakulskas, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, P.J.  (5 pages)

            Melvin Cardona Cardona appeals the denial of his motion to suppress.  He argues the warrantless stop of his vehicle was not supported by reasonable suspicion or probable cause, so his constitutional rights were violated.  OPINION HOLDS: Following our de novo review, we conclude the stop was justified and affirm the decision of the district court.  

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Washington County, Michael Carpenter, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Chicchelly and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (11 pages)

            A mother appeals a custody order granting her and the father joint physical care of their child, contending she should be granted physical care.  OPINION HOLDS: Because joint physical care between the parties is in the child’s best interests, we affirm the district court’s decision.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Thomas A. Bitter, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, C.J., and Chicchelly and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (14 pages)

            Melissa Lynn Decker Hurm appeals the physical‑care and economic provisions of the decree dissolving her marriage to Peter Matthew Hurm.  Peter also requests appellate attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: Because it is in the best interests of the children to be placed in Peter’s physical care and because the property distribution and income imputation are equitable, we affirm.  We also decline to award appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Marshall County, Adria Kester, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Tabor, C.J., and Chicchelly and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Sandy, J.  (11 pages)

            Natalia Ryner appeals the visitation schedule ordered by the district court as part of a custody dispute.  Specifically, she contends the district court’s summer visitation schedule, which takes effect when the child is five years old, is inappropriate.  OPINION HOLDS: Based off the unique facts presented in this case, we believe a modification of the summer visitation schedule is necessary.  Instead of nearly eight weeks of what, in practice, will likely be uninterrupted summer visitation with the child’s father in Texas, we find the best interest of the child is better served with five weeks of uninterrupted summer visitation.  This schedule will take effect when the child reaches the age of five.  We believe such a schedule better considers the situations of the mother and father while still serving the child’s best interests. Lastly, we grant Ryner’s request for appellate attorney fees and remand to the district to determine the amount of such fees. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Coleman McAllister, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Greer, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  (13 pages)

            Linnhaven, Inc. and its insurer, Accident Fund National Insurance Company/United Heartland, appeal the district court’s denial of their petition for judicial review of the workers’ compensation commissioner’s decision finding that Roger Blasdell’s death benefits are not barred by the willful-injury defense of Iowa Code section 85.16(1) (2016).  OPINION HOLDS: Substantial evidence supports the commissioner’s ruling that Blasdell’s wife’s death was accidental rather than a suicide and that Linnhaven thus failed to meet its burden to prove the willful-injury affirmative defense.  Linnhaven’s alternative argument—that the decision should be reversed because Blasdell did not prove that his wife’s death was caused by a work injury—is not preserved for our review.  It was not decided by the commissioner or the district court, and Linnhaven never clearly raised the issue before the commissioner.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Lee (South) County, John M. Wright, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Chicchelly and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, P.J.  (8 pages)

            A mother appeals from a decree placing physical care of her child with the child’s father.  OPINION HOLDS: Given the poor communication between the parents, their different approaches to parenting, and the physical distance between their homes, we agree with the district court that joint physical care is not appropriate.  As the child must be placed in the physical care of one of the parents and the father has demonstrated a superior ability to meet the child’s needs, we affirm the district court’s decision to place the child in the father’s physical care.  We do not grant either party appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Nicholas Scott, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  (7 pages)

            A father appeals the private termination of his parental rights under Iowa Code chapter 600A (2023) for failing to financially support his children.  OPINION HOLDS: The father, although inconsistently employed, had sources of income that could have been used to financially support his children.  While the father believed other debts or purchases were more pressing financial priorities, the father could have provided some amount of child support and chose not to.  Thus, the mother proved the father’s rights may be terminated under section 600A.8(4).

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Page County, Donna Bothwell, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Buller, P.J., Langholz, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Doyle, S.J.  (5 pages)

            A father appeals the termination of his parental rights to his child.  OPINION HOLDS: Clear and convincing evidence supports terminating the father’s parental rights under Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(h) (2024), and termination serves the child’s best interests.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Des Moines County, Jennifer S. Bailey, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, P.J.  (12 pages)

            Mother appeals a permanency order of the juvenile court creating a guardianship for her child.  The State argues the appeal was not from a final order.  Mother argues that the Department of Health and Human Services did not make every reasonable effort to reunite the mother with her child.  OPINION HOLDS: We find that the underlying permanency order assigning the child’s foster parents to be guardians is a final order.  We affirm the ruling of the juvenile court creating a guardianship and agree a guardianship is in the best interest of the child.