April 2024 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Boone County, Bethany Currie, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (7 pages)

            Heather Swanson appeals the district court’s denial of her application for postconviction relief, claiming her trial counsel was ineffective by failing to move for dismissal based on a speedy-indictment violation and by failing to pursue a claim of law enforcement bias.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Scott D. Rosenberg, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Danilson, S.J.  Opinion by Schumacher, P.J. (6 pages)

            Defendant appeals his conviction for first-degree murder, arguing the State failed to present sufficient evidence to show that he acted with malice aforethought.  OPINION HOLDS: Because there was substantial evidence presented for a rational trier of fact to find beyond a reasonable doubt the defendant acted with malice aforethought, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, William P. Kelly, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Schumacher and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J. (5 pages)

            A defendant appeals her sentence following her guilty plea.  She claims the district court abused its discretion by failing to adequately consider mitigating sentencing factors.  OPINION HOLDS: A review of the record reveals that the district court did consider the mitigating factors highlighted by the defendant.  The district court thoroughly and thoughtfully considered and weighed relevant factors to arrive at a reasonable sentencing decision and did not abuse its discretion when doing so.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Mark Fowler, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Chicchelly, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Buller, J., takes no part.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (4 pages)

            Troy Williams appeals the order granting summary dismissal of his second application for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the Iowa Supreme Court affirmed the denial of Williams’s first PCR application on the merits, Williams is precluded from relitigating those claims here.  His PCR counsel was not ineffective by failing to raise a meritless claim.  We therefore affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, David M. Cox, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Heard by Schumacher, P.J., Langholz, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  Dissent by Schumacher, P.J.  (28 pages)

            Keith Rath and Dennis Faltis appeal the district court’s grant of summary judgment dismissing their breach-of-contract and related claims because it concluded that they are not intended third-party beneficiaries of a force-placed insurance policy issued by Arch Insurance Company to their bank.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the insurance policy includes an endorsement increasing the coverage above the bank’s interest and giving plaintiffs a right to payment as a loss payee, the policy manifests an intent to benefit plaintiffs.  They are thus third-party beneficiaries under the insurance contract, and the district court erred in dismissing their claims.  DISSENT ASSERTS: The force-placed insurance policy does not name the borrower as an additional insured, expressly delineate that the policy covers the borrower’s interest in the insured property, or otherwise state that the borrower is a beneficiary of the lender’s coverage, including as that of a third-party beneficiary.  Rather the policy states no coverage, directly or indirectly, is provided to the borrower.  On this basis, the trial court properly granted summary judgment, which we should affirm.  As we do not, I respectfully dissent.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Jeffrey L. Larson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Schumacher and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  (10 pages)

            Elisha Stokes appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment dismissing a gross-negligence claim against his coworker, Mario Murillo.  OPINION HOLDS:  Stokes’s claim that Murillo’s operation of the rebar-cutting machine with the safety mechanism disabled fails because Stokes has shown no evidence from which a jury could find that Murillo knew that injury was probable rather than just possible from that operation.  Stokes failed to preserve error on his other argument of gross negligence because it was not raised in, or decided by, the district court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Des Moines County, Jennifer S. Bailey, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (4 pages)

            David Myers challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction for domestic abuse assault causing injury.  OPINION HOLDS: To the extent Myers intends to raise evidentiary challenges, he has not sufficiently developed the arguments and failed to preserve them for our review.  Myers’s conviction is supported by substantial evidence.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Sarah Crane, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Buller, JJ.  Tabor, J., takes no part.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (5 pages)

            An applicant appeals the denial of his third application for postconviction relief, asserting ineffective assistance in trial counsel’s handling of the victim’s mental-health records.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find trial counsel was not ineffective, we affirm the denial of postconviction relief.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Stuart P. Werling, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Badding and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (8 pages)

            Michael Smith appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief.  He asserts plea counsel provided ineffective assistance in two ways.  First, he claims that counsel ignored his directive to withdraw the guilty pleas unless the sentencing court agreed to run all his sentences concurrently.  Second, he argues that no factual basis existed for his plea to interference with official acts while displaying a dangerous weapon.  OPINION HOLDS: Plea counsel’s account, which the postconviction court found credible, was that Smith did not request to withdraw his pleas.  We decline to disturb that finding.  And we find the facts support the crime and form a factual basis for Smith’s plea of guilty.  Finding counsel did not fail in any professional duty, we do not address prejudice and affirm the denial of relief. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Paul D. Scott, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (3 pages)

            Deonte Williams appeals the order granting summary dismissal of his application for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the face of Williams’s application shows it was untimely, the court did not err in granting summary dismissal.  Because Williams did not challenge and the postconviction court did not rule on the constitutionality of Iowa Code section 822.3 (2022), error is not preserved and we do not address the claim on appeal.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Marshall County, Amy M. Moore, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (7 pages)

            Trenton Brekke appeals his sentences and the modification of appeal bail conditions following entry of his Alford plea to multiple offences.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court did not abuse its discretion when sentencing Brekke, and Brekke’s challenge to the appeal bail conditions is not properly before us because Brekke failed to file a notice of appeal from the order modifying the bail terms.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Andrew Chappell, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (5 pages)

            A plaintiff appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the defendant in a professional negligence case.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the district court correctly applied the law, we affirm.