Filed Jan 23, 2025
View Opinion No. 22-2072
View Summary for Case No. 22-2072
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Webster County, Adria Kester, Judge. APPEAL DISMISSED. Considered by Greer, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ. Opinion by Greer, P.J. (2 pages)
Chad Vice appeals the dismissal of his civil suit for lack of service. OPINION HOLDS: Vice’s notice of appeal was late, which deprives us of jurisdiction. We dismiss the appeal.
Filed Jan 23, 2025
View Opinion No. 23-0742
View Summary for Case No. 23-0742
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Christopher L. Bruns, Judge. AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS. Considered by Schumacher, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ. Opinion by Buller, J. (15 pages)
A criminal defendant appeals his ten convictions arising from a robbery and subsequent attempted murder of a peace officer and other events. OPINION HOLDS: We reverse the conviction for trafficking stolen weapons and affirm the other nine convictions. We remand to the district court with directions.
Filed Jan 23, 2025
View Opinion No. 23-1211
View Summary for Case No. 23-1211
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jefferson County, Lucy J. Gamon, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Tabor, C.J., and Ahlers and Sandy, JJ. Opinion by Tabor, C.J. (8 pages)
The former employee of a dairy farm petitioned for replevin and damages when the farmer kept a tractor the employee alleged he owned but used in his work at the dairy. The district court granted the employee’s petition, finding he had a superior claim of ownership, and awarding damages because the farmer wrongfully detained the tractor for more than a year. The farmer contests that ruling, alleging the former employee acquired the tractor by fraud and has no rightful claim to own it. OPINION HOLDS: Substantial evidence supports the replevin ruling, and we find no error of law, so we affirm.
Filed Jan 23, 2025
View Opinion No. 23-1215
View Summary for Case No. 23-1215
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, David P. Odekirk, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Tabor, C.J., and Ahlers and Sandy, JJ. Opinion by Tabor, C.J. (5 pages)
A defendant appeals his sentence for violation of sex offender registry requirements, contending that the court abused its discretion in sentencing him to an indeterminate five-year prison term. OPINION HOLDS: Because the district court reached a reasonable result after weighing the appropriate factors, we affirm.
Filed Jan 23, 2025
View Opinion No. 23-1397
View Summary for Case No. 23-1397
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Justin Lightfoot and Kevin McKeever, Judges. AFFIRMED. Considered by Schumacher, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ. Opinion by Buller, J. (9 pages)
Homeowners allege the district court erred in interpreting their breach‑of-contract claim and granting summary judgment on their consequential‑damages and bad‑faith claims against their insurer following the 2020 derecho windstorm. OPINION HOLDS: Finding the district court did not err in its summary judgment rulings or by dismissing the case once repair payments were made in full, we affirm.
Filed Jan 23, 2025
View Opinion No. 23-1484
View Summary for Case No. 23-1484
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jones County, David Cox, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Schumacher, P.J., and Ahlers and Langholz, JJ. Opinion by Langholz, J. Dissent by Ahlers, J. (10 pages)
Doug Faust appeals the spousal-support award of a decree dissolving his fifteen-year marriage with Abbey Faust. He argues the ten-year award to Abbey is inequitable and should be denied or reduced in duration or amount. OPINION HOLDS: On our de novo review, mindful of the superior position of the district court to assess Abbey’s credibility about her disability and the supreme court’s admonition to refrain from undue tinkering with spousal-support awards on appeal, we agree with the district court that the award is equitable. DISSENT ASSERTS: While I agree the majority that Abbey Faust should be awarded some spousal support, I dissent from the majority’s decision to affirm the amount of spousal support awarded by the district court. Equity requires a substantially lower spousal-support award, so I would modify the district court’s decree accordingly.
Filed Jan 23, 2025
View Opinion No. 23-1598
View Summary for Case No. 23-1598
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Andrea J. Dryer, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Chicchelly, P.J., Buller, J., and Bower, S.J. Opinion by Bower, S.J. (13 pages)
James Ernst appeals the district court’s denial of his application for postconviction relief (PCR) following his 2016 conviction of first-degree murder. Ernst claims his trial counsel was ineffective by failing to strike a juror for cause, failing to locate and depose State and defense witnesses, failing to object to the prosecutor’s closing statement that he asserts amounted to misconduct, failing to object to a defense witness who testified while attired in inmate clothing along with handcuffs and shackles, and for failing to request a spoliation instruction concerning a lost video. Also, Ernst claims his PCR counsel was ineffective by failing to contact or investigate witnesses who would have testified at the PCR hearing. OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm.
Filed Jan 23, 2025
View Opinion No. 23-1610
View Summary for Case No. 23-1610
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Patrick R. Grady, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Badding, JJ. Opinion by Ahlers, J. (5 pages)
Lundell Buchanan appeals the district court’s dismissal of his application for postconviction relief. On appeal, he argues the district court erred by excluding his telephonic testimony and by finding his trial counsel were not ineffective for failing to file a motion to suppress. OPINION HOLDS: The district court correctly determined Buchanan failed to prove his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance. We affirm the decision.
Filed Jan 23, 2025
View Opinion No. 23-1639
View Summary for Case No. 23-1639
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, David Nelmark, Judge. AFFIRMED. Heard by Greer, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ. Opinion by Langholz, J. (14 pages)
Scott Family Properties, LLC appeals a district court judgment finding that it breached a real-estate contract and ordering specific performance. Scott Properties argues that the buyer, Woodland Hills, LLC, repudiated the contract when it offered a new closing date and that Woodland Hills’ failure to perform on the original closing date relieved Scott Properties of any contract obligations after that date. OPINION HOLDS: Woodland Hills did not repudiate the contract—proposing a new closing date was an option expressly contemplated by the contract. And Woodland Hills could not perform on the original closing date because Scott Properties failed to provide the information necessary to tender payment or otherwise close. What’s more, the mutual failure to perform on that date kept the contract alive. So when Scott Properties later refused to perform, it breached the purchase agreement. We thus affirm the district court and award Woodland Hills appellate attorney fees.
Filed Jan 23, 2025
View Opinion No. 23-1642
View Summary for Case No. 23-1642
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Madison County, Martha L. Mertz, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Chicchelly and Buller, JJ. Opinion by Ahlers, P.J. (5 pages)
Remainder beneficiaries appeal the district court and trustee’s approval of a $30,000 distribution from a trust’s principal to help fund the lifetime beneficiary’s criminal defense in an unrelated matter. OPINION HOLDS: The trustee did not abuse his discretion when approving the distribution, and the distribution does not violate the trust’s spendthrift clause.
Filed Jan 23, 2025
View Opinion No. 23-1673
View Summary for Case No. 23-1673
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Thomas A. Bitter, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Badding, P.J., Langholz, J., and Bower, S.J. Opinion by Langholz, J. (8 pages)
David Stuart appeals the dismissal of his petition for writ of certiorari challenging the Dubuque Building Code Advisory and Appeal Board’s denial of his appeals of three housing notices of violation. Stuart argues that the district court erred in finding the petition untimely and that the court should have granted him an extension of time because his untimely filing was “due to a failure of the tribunal, board or officer to notify the petitioner of the challenged decision.” Iowa R. Civ. P. 1.1402(3). OPINION HOLDS: We agree with the district court that Stuart’s thirty-day clock started no later than the date the Board mailed its written decision—the date of his receipt is irrelevant. So his petition filed thirty-two days later was untimely. And because Stuart makes no argument that any action of the Board prevented him from receiving notice within the thirty-day window for filing, the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying his request for an extension of time.
Filed Jan 23, 2025
View Opinion No. 23-1698
View Summary for Case No. 23-1698
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Jeffrey D. Bert, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Schumacher, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ. Opinion by Buller, J. (4 pages)
A criminal defendant appeals his convictions for unauthorized use of a credit card and theft in the second degree. OPINION HOLDS: Finding his instructional‑error claim was not preserved and no legal error in the jury’s verdict, we affirm.