2024 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Fayette County, Linnea M.N. Nicol, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (11 pages)

            In this child-in-need-of-assistance proceeding, the mother appeals the juvenile court’s dispositional review order and finding of reasonable efforts.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Marshall County, Paul G. Crawford, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., Schumacher, J., and Vogel, S.J.  Opinion by Vogel, S.J.  (5 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to three children, claiming she should have been granted additional time to work toward reunification.  OPINION HOLDS: Because additional time is not warranted, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Cynthia S. Finley, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., Schumacher, J., and Danilson, S.J.  Opinion by Danilson, S.J.  (9 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights.  She challenges the statutory grounds authorizing termination, claims termination is not in the child’s best interests, and argues the court should apply a permissive exception to forgo termination.  The mother also claims she received ineffective assistance from her counsel that should entitle her to relief.  OPINION HOLDS: The State established statutory grounds authorizing termination.  Termination is in the child’s best interests, and we decline to apply a permissive exception to termination.  The mother’s counsel did not provide ineffective assistance.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clarke County, Monty Franklin, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., Chicchelly, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Doyle, S.J.  (5 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her child.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the State proved the grounds for termination under Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(h), and the exception under section 232.116(3)(a) does not apply, and the mother failed to prove section (c) (2023) applies, we affirm the termination of the mother’s parental rights.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Plymouth County, Tod Deck and James N. Daane, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (10 pages)

            Kody Miller appeals his conviction for simple misdemeanor assault.  He contends the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress DNA testing of his blood sample from an unrelated operating-while-intoxicated offense and asserts there was insufficient evidence supporting the verdict.  OPINION HOLDS: The evidence the State offered supports his conviction for assault.  And because the DNA evidence from his blood sample did not contribute to the jury’s verdict, its admission was harmless.  We affirm the conviction. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Richard H. Davidson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (7 pages)

            Rodney Jackson appeals a five-year sentencing no-contact order.  OPINION HOLDS: The magistrate court did not exceed its authority in entering the permanent no-contact order, and the district court properly applied the law in finding that Iowa Western Community College, as a corporation, was a person who could be a protected party under the no-contact order.  We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, David Nelmark, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., Chicchelly, J., and Danilson, S.J.  Blane, S.J., takes no part.  Opinion by Danilson, S.J.  (9 pages)

            Lester Richardson appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief.  He claims his trial counsel was ineffective given her inexperience and physical health.  OPINION HOLDS: Counsel’s inexperience did not result in her providing ineffective assistance.  Richardson cannot establish prejudice related to counsel’s performance during purported medical episodes given the strong evidence of his guilt. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Wright County, Gregg R. Rosenbladt, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.  Heard by Tabor, P.J., and Badding and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Badding, J.  Special Concurrence by Buller, J.  (24 pages)

                On interlocutory appeal, Lukouxs Brown challenges the district court’s ruling that he was restored to competency.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the preponderance of the evidence shows that Brown remains incompetent to stand trial but is making progress in regaining competency.  We accordingly reverse the district court’s decision and remand for the entry of an order suspending the criminal proceedings indefinitely and placing Brown in continued restoration treatment.  SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: I concur under Iowa’s unusual de novo standard of review but remain unconvinced the standard is correct.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Mahaska County, Myron Gookin, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Chicchelly, JJ.  Buller, J., takes no part.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (8 pages)

            James Andrew Hols appeals his conviction for domestic abuse assault, contending the district court’s finding of forfeiture by wrongdoing violated his constitutional rights.  OPINON HOLDS: Because we conclude Hols forfeited his right to confront the victim, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Muscatine County, Gary P. Strausser and Henry W. Latham II, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (12 pages)

            Jeremy Bartenhagen appeals his convictions from two separate cases, one convicting him of prohibited possession of ammunition and the other convicting him of driving while barred.  He argues neither conviction is supported by sufficient evidence.  In the driving-while-barred case, he also claims that the district court improperly admitted only a portion of the arresting officer’s body-camera recording, and that he should have been granted a mistrial or allowed to question the jurors after some jurors saw him escorted by jail officers to the courthouse.  OPINION HOLDS: Because sufficient evidence supports both convictions, Bartenhagen never requested admission of the entire body-camera video, Bartenhagen was permitted to question jurors about seeing Bartenhagen escorted by jail officers, and the court did not abuse its discretion in denying a mistrial, we affirm Bartenhagen’s convictions in both cases.

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

            A defendant appeals his convictions for murder in the second degree and felon in possession of a firearm, challenging evidentiary rulings from his jury trial.  He contends the court abused its discretion in admitting evidence of his phone calls from jail, and a Snapchat selfie of him holding a gun.  OPINION HOLDS: Because those discretionary rulings complied with the rules of evidence, we affirm his convictions.

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

            Dayvon Freeman appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: We find Freeman failed to establish either a breach of counsel’s duty or resulting prejudice and waived his substitute-counsel claim.  We affirm.