August 2024 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Delaware County, Monica Zrinyi Ackley, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard en banc, but decided by Tabor, C.J., Greer, J., and Bower, S.J.  Opinion by Tabor, C.J.  (18 pages)

            Bradford Manatt appeals the summary judgment order finding he must offer his shares of a company to his brother, Anthony Manatt under a mandatory buy-sell agreement.  Brad argues there are genuine issues of material fact about the enforceability of the buy-sell agreement.  He also argues his affirmative defenses require determination by a jury.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the record reveals no jury question on the enforceability of the buy-sell agreement and Brad did not preserve error on affirmative defenses, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Fayette County, Richard D. Stochl, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Chicchelly and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, P.J. (8 pages)

            Isaiah Duffield appeals his conviction for sexual abuse in the third degree and the ruling on his motion for a new trial, arguing that insufficient evidence supports his conviction and that the court applied the wrong standard when deciding whether to grant a new trial.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find sufficient evidence supports the conviction and the district court applied the correct standard in ruling on Duffield’s motion for new trial, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Melissa Anderson-Seeber, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Chicchelly and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J. (11 pages)

            A criminal defendant appeals his conviction for sexual abuse in the second degree.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the district did not err in admitting the child’s forensic interview or abuse its discretion in ruling on the motion for new trial, we affirm.

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

            A party appeals the denial of his petition to open a small estate in probate.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the petition only challenges one of the independent grounds for the denial of his petition, we affirm the denial under the unchallenged grounds.  SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: I join the court’s well-reasoned opinion in full but write separately to emphasize three points.  First, our opinion affirming does not prevent Piper from filing a new petition.  Second, we do not decide that a party must be represented by an attorney to petition to open administration of a small probate estate.  And third—contrary to Piper’s assumption—it does not appear that the district court dismissed his petition because he lacked an attorney either.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Lars G. Anderson, Andrew Chappel, and Chad Kepros, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, P.J.  (7 pages)

            Appellant argues the district court erred in granting summary judgment based on the Appellant’s failure to file a resistance.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding summary judgment was proper, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Linda M. Fangman, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Tabor, C.J., and Badding and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, C.J.  Dissent by Buller, J.  (29 pages)

            A defendant appeals his convictions for possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver and failure to affix a tax stamp stemming from a search of his bag during his arrest.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the defendant had no realistic ability to access the fanny pack after he was handcuffed and escorted to the patrol car, the search did not meet the incident-to-arrest exception to the warrant requirement.  Thus, we reverse the suppression ruling and remand for further proceedings.  DISSENT ASSERTS: As I would follow longstanding state and federal law on search incident to arrest instead of placing officers at risk, I dissent.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Scott J. Beattie, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Chicchelly and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (2 pages)

            An applicant appeals the dismissal of his untimely third application for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the application was filed outside the statute of limitations, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Heather Lauber, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Badding, P.J., Langholz, J., and Bower, S.J.  Opinion by Badding, J.  (6 pages)

            An employer appeals a district court ruling on judicial review affirming a workers’ compensation decision that awarded an employee permanent total disability benefits.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s conclusions that the challenged findings are supported by substantial evidence.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Marion County, Steven Guiter, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Chicchelly and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, P.J.  (8 pages)

            A father appeals the termination of his parental rights, arguing the grounds for termination have not been met and termination is not in the child’s best interest.  OPINION HOLDS: While the mother improperly interfered with the father’s efforts at contacting the child, the lack of contact required by the statute was caused more by the father’s lack of effort.  The mother established a statutory ground for termination, and that termination is in the child’s best interest, so we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Jessica Noll, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Chicchelly and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (7 pages)

            A person appeals from a court order committing her as a person with a substance-use disorder pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 125 (2023).  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm, finding sufficient evidence to support commitment and that—assuming without deciding there is a right to effective counsel under chapter 125—counsel was not ineffective.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Paul D. Scott, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Badding, J.  (4 pages)

            An applicant appeals the dismissal of his application for postconviction relief, claiming he should have been excepted from the statute of limitations based on a new ground of law.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding error was not preserved on the applicant’s claim for exception from the statute of limitations and he is otherwise not entitled to relief on the merits, we affirm dismissal of his application for postconviction relief.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Butler County, Gregg R. Rosenbladt, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Badding, P.J., Langholz, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Opinion by Badding, P.J.  (8 pages)

            A father appeals a custody decree placing the parties’ children in the physical care of their mother.  OPINION HOLDS: Deferring to the district court’s credibility findings, we affirm the district court’s physical-care decision.  We deny the mother’s request for an award of appellate attorney fees.