July 2024 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Lucas County, John D. Lloyd, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Badding, P.J., Langholz, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Badding, P.J.  (5 pages)

            Defendants appeal an adverse district court order quieting title to real property.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s decision and deny the plaintiff’s request for appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Mark R. Lawson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (7 pages)

            John Mark Blair II appeals his sentence, arguing the district court abused its discretion by applying a fixed sentencing policy based on the nature of the offenses.  OPINION HOLDS: We do not find the district court employed a fixed sentencing policy in choosing imprisonment over probation; the court appropriately used its discretion in tailoring the concurrent ten-year sentences to Blair’s individual circumstance.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Poweshiek County, Patrick McAvan, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Badding, P.J., Langholz, J., and Bower, S.J.  Opinion by Badding, J.  (11 pages)

            A mother appeals a district court order establishing a guardianship for her minor child.  OPINION HOLDS: Because there is clear and convincing evidence that the mother was not willing or able to exercise the powers the district court granted to the guardians and the guardianship is in the child’s best interest, we affirm upon our de novo review of the record.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Taylor County, Thomas P. Murphy, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Badding, P.J., Langholz, J., and Blane, S.J.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  (12 pages)

            Natalie Churchill appeals the district court’s order interpreting her grandfather’s trust and denying her request to remove the trustee—her aunt, Nancy Churchill.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court correctly interpreted the unambiguous terms of trust— Natalie has no interest in the trust income or property until “both” of Churchill’s daughters “are deceased.”  The court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to remove Nancy as trustee.  And we cannot consider Natalie’s attorney-fees arguments because the district court has not made a final attorney-fee award to Nancy and Natalie never requested fees.  We also decline to award Natalie appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeanie Vaudt, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (10 pages)

            An applicant appeals the district court’s denial of his application for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the applicant failed to show that trial counsel breached an essential duty, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Jeffrey L. Larson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (8 pages)

            Larry Murphy appeals the summary dismissal of his second application for postconviction relief (PCR).  OPINION HOLDS: Because Murphy’s PCR application was filed more than three years after his conviction was final and he asserted no ground of fact material to his substantive claim that could not have been presented within the three-year time frame, see Iowa Code § 822.3 (2023), we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Wapello County, Kirk Daily, Judge.  APPEAL DISMISSED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (7 pages)

            Demetrius Wilson appeals his conviction for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver (marijuana) within one thousand feet of certain real property.  OPINION HOLDS:  Because Wilson did not file a motion in arrest of judgment following his guilty plea, and he clearly waived his right to have a hearing in open court for his guilty plea, he does not have good cause to appeal this non-class-“A”-felony conviction.  Without good cause, we have no jurisdiction, and we dismiss the appeal.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Meghan Corbin, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Badding, P.J., Langholz, J., and Bower, S.J.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  (9 pages)

            Kristopher Keppy appeals the district court’s denial of his application to modify the physical-care and child-support provisions of a custody-and-support order under Iowa Code chapter 600B (2022) and its refusal to hold the children’s mother, Jennifer West, in contempt for alleged violations of that order.  OPINION HOLDS: Keppy has not preserved error on his challenges to the district court’s refusal to hold West in contempt or its denial of his request to modify the physical-care placement of the children because—as he concedes—the district court did not rule on the errors he now raises and he did not ask the court to expand its ruling to address them under Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.904.  We defer to the court’s finding that his reduction in income is self-inflicted and cannot support modification of his child-support obligation.  And we award West some of her appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Muscatine County, Thomas Reidel, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (5 pages)

            Donroy Merrival Jr. appeals his sentences following his guilty pleas.  Merrival argues the district court abused its discretion when sentencing him to incarceration instead of probation because the court used boilerplate language and only considered the nature of the offense.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court did not abuse its discretion and we affirm the sentences imposed by the district court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Jessica Noll, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Chicchelly and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (12 pages)

            R.K. appeals two involuntary‑commitment orders under Iowa Code chapters 125 and 229 (2023), challenging sufficiency of the evidence.  She also contends that she received ineffective assistance.  OPINION HOLDS: Because sufficient evidence supports the finding and R.K. did not receive ineffective assistance, we affirm R.K.’s commitment under section 229.1(22).  But we reverse R.K.’s commitment under section 125.2(16) and remand for dismissal of that application.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Brendan Greiner, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (7 pages)

            A father appeals the private termination of his parental rights under Iowa Code section 600A.8 (2023).  OPINION HOLDS: Because we conclude the mother proved the statutory ground of abandonment, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Jeffrey A. Neary, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Chicchelly and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (7 pages)

            A patient appeals orders for civil commitment based on her mental health and substance-use disorder.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the patient’s failure to present a proper record on appeal precludes our review of the sufficiency of the evidence, and we find she is owed no relief on her ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim, we affirm.