2024 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, David Nelmark, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Schumacher and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (9 pages)

            William Burton III appeals the district court’s denial of his application for postconviction relief following his 2019 conviction for second-degree robbery.  Burton claims his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to object to an improper jury instruction.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm.

          Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Becky Goettsch, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, P.J.  (5 pages)

          A defendant appeals his sentence, asserting an abuse of discretion by the district court.  OPINION HOLDS: We ascertain no abuse of discretion in the district court’s sentencing decision and affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Kossuth County, Ann M. Gales, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Badding, J.  (4 pages)

            Shawn Krug appeals his convictions on speedy trial grounds.  OPINION HOLDS: Because speedy trial was tolled pending Krug’s competency evaluation, we find no abuse of discretion in the district court’s order denying Krug’s motion to dismiss.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Louisa County, Clinton Boddicker, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Tabor, C.J., Ahlers, J., and Bower, S.J.  Opinion by Tabor, C.J.  (15 pages)

            Orchard owners Lynn and Stanley Staats sued neighboring farmer Richard Yotter for negligence and trespass.  The jury found for Yotter on both claims, and the district court denied the Staatses’ motion for new trial.  The Staatses appeal, arguing that the district court erred by (1) excluding a warning letter the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship sent to Yotter and (2) allowing the jury to view an electronic exhibit during deliberations.  OPINION HOLDS: We find no error in the district court’s exclusion of the warning letter on hearsay grounds and no abuse of discretion in its decision to allow the jury to view the exhibit on a “clean” laptop.  So, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Harrison County, Margaret Reyes, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Badding, J. (16 pages)

            A defendant appeals from his convictions for sexual exploitation by a school employee, lascivious conduct with a minor, and indecent contact with a child.  He claims (1) the sexual exploitation convictions involving the victims in counts five, nine, and sixteen “were not supported by evidence of inappropriate touching”; (2) none of the convictions for lascivious conduct with a minor were supported by proof that the victims were never married; (3) the age element was not established for the indecent contact conviction in count three; and (4) the district court abused its discretion by not allowing Work to cross-examine a victim “with specific instances of conduct relating to her character for truthfulness.”  OPINION HOLDS: On our review of Work’s claims, we conclude (1) the evidence was sufficient to convince a rational trier of fact that Work was guilty of sexual exploitation in the challenged counts; (2) the statute criminalizing lascivious conduct with a minor does not require proof of the minor’s marital status; (3) the State concedes the victim for the indecent contact conviction in count three was not a “child,” and we agree; and (4) the claimed evidentiary error is harmless as the defendant still elicited testimony about the witness’s character for truthfulness. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jasper County, William A. Price, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, C.J., and Chicchelly and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (7 pages)

            Samuel Gurisho Kabo appeals his conviction after a jury found him guilty of eluding.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the court did not err in its jury instructions ruling and substantial evidence supports Kabo’s conviction, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Tamra Roberts, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, C.J., and Chicchelly and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Sandy, J. (9 pages)

            A defendant appeals his conviction for domestic abuse assault, arguing the evidence was insufficient to establish he and his victim were “family or household members,” which was defined to the jury as “persons cohabiting with each other.”  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find substantial evidence supports the jury’s finding of cohabitation, we affirm the defendant’s conviction.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Webster County, Kurt J. Stoebe, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, P.J.  (12 pages)

            Lori Painter appeals the district court’s order denying her motion to intervene and motion for appointment as co-administrator of the Estate of Jeffery Nagel.  Painter challenges the court’s finding she had failed to prove she was Nagel’s common-law wife.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, David Porter, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, C.J., and Chicchelly and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Sandy, J.  (8 pages)

            A father appeals the district court’s order granting the mother physical care of their child.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our de novo review, we affirm the district court’s order awarding the mother physical care. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clay County, Andrew Smith, Judge.  APPEAL DISMISSED IN PART AND AFFIRMED IN PART.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Langholz, J. (7 pages)

            Garret Wassom directly appeals three misdemeanor convictions, challenging whether five exhibits were improperly excluded from trial.  OPINION HOLDS: Wassom has no right to directly appeal his two simple misdemeanor convictions.  And even treating his filings here as an application for discretionary review, Wassom received substantial justice, so we deny discretionary review and dismiss his appeals from the simple assault convictions for lack of jurisdiction.  Wassom failed to preserve error on his constitutional evidentiary arguments challenging the third conviction.  And the district court did not abuse its discretion when excluding the exhibits as irrelevant—that the victim may have briefly interacted with Wassom two, five, or eight months after the event does not make any material fact relating to false imprisonment more or less probable. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Webster County, Adria Kester, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, C.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, C.J.  (6 pages)

            After pleading guilty to two drug charges and a related weapons charge, Jacob Cullum appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief (PCR).  He claims his counsel was ineffective for not moving to suppress evidence found during a warrantless search of his car.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the search was justified under the automobile exception to the warrant requirement, counsel had no duty to file a meritless motion.  Thus, we affirm the PCR ruling.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Jason A. Burns, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J. (4 pages)

            Alfred Younes appeals his sentence following his guilty plea, claiming the district court abused its discretion by only considering one sentencing factor, community deterrence, when reaching its sentencing decision.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court considered several permissible sentencing factors when reaching its sentencing decision.  In doing so, the district court did not abuse its discretion.