November 2025 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Monica Zrinyi Ackley, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Badding, J.  (14 pages)

            Phil Mausser appeals a bench trial ruling finding him liable for unjust enrichment for unpaid hay deliveries.  On appeal, Mausser challenges the admission of scale tickets alleged to show the quantity of hay delivered.  He also challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the court’s award.  OPINION HOLDS: We reject the evidentiary challenge but grant partial relief on the merits following our de novo review.  While we agree with the district court’s award as to some of the hay deliveries, the evidence linking other loads to Mausser is too conjectural to hold him liable.  We accordingly vacate the judgment against Mausser for those loads and remand for entry of a corrected judgment.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jefferson County, Myron Gookin, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, P.J.  (9 pages)

            Donna Peterson, the executor of Dennis Peterson’s estate, appeals the probate court ruling setting priority over estate funds in favor of Joe Parcell, an estate beneficiary, arguing the estate is insolvent and any leftover funds must be paid towards an Iowa Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) probate claim for medical expenses.  OPINION HOLDS: Because HHS filed a release and satisfaction of its probate claim against the estate, the probate court properly ordered the executor to pay any remaining sums available in the estate to Parcell.  We affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Chickasaw County, John Bauercamper, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.  Considered without oral argument by Tabor, C.J., and Greer and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, C.J.  (10 pages)

            Tyler and Noelle Hansen appeal a district court decree finding that their neighbors proved their claim of adverse possession.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm as modified because we find the district court’s reliance on Iowa Code chapter 650 (2019) is misplaced.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, Karen Kaufman Salic, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Tabor, C.J., Badding, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Doyle, S.J. (10 pages)

            On appeal from his conviction for operating while intoxicated, Terry Schmitz challenges the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence from the traffic stop.  Schmitz contends the officer did not have probable cause to stop the vehicle because the officer made a mistake of law about the speed limit.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude that Schmitz’s driving fifty-two miles per hour violated the forty-five-miles-per-hour maximum mandated by Iowa Code section 321.285(2)(a)(3) (2023), the default speed limit for suburban districts within a city, giving the officer probable cause to initiate the stop.  That the trooper may have been mistaken in his belief that the lawful speed limit was twenty-five miles per hour does not alter our conclusion.  

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Marion County, Terry Rickers, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (5 pages)

            Robert Church appeals the order denying his application for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: Because Church failed to show he would not have pled guilty and would have insisted on going to trial if he had been informed that his conviction would result in a lifetime requirement to register with the sex offender registry, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Joel W. Barrows, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Schumacher, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Bower, S.J.  Opinion by Schumacher, P.J.  (7 pages)

            Jermaine Carter Jr. appeals his convictions for possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, possession of a controlled substance, interference with official acts–firearm, possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, and person ineligible to carry dangerous weapons.  Carter claims the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress because “the objective facts” known to police did not “rise to the level of reasonable suspicion necessary to justify the warrantless seizure of Carter and his vehicle.”  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we conclude even if the seizure was unreasonable, Carter’s resistance to arrest provided an independent basis to search, resulting in the discovery of methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, and a firearm.  Accordingly, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Jason D. Besler, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard at oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Schumacher and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (10 pages)

            Will contestants appeal the probate court’s orders dismissing their claims and declaring the will’s in terrorem clause to be enforceable.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the will contestants waited more than thirty days to appeal following the probate court’s dismissal of their claims challenging the will, we are without subject matter jurisdiction to consider their related claims on appeal.  On the remaining issue, the will contestants failed to create a question of material fact as to whether they challenged the will in good faith or with probable cause, so the probate court correctly concluded that the in terrorem clause of the will should be enforced.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Stuart P. Werling, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Ahlers, P.J., and Chicchelly and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Sandy, J. (6 pages)

            Garrett Michael Condon alleges that the district court abused its discretion by considering an improper factor in its imposition of a prison sentence.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the district court did not abuse its discretion by considering an improper factor in sentencing, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Wright County, DeDra Schroeder, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Tabor, C.J., and Greer and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (10 pages)

            A father appeals the modification of a marriage dissolution decree granting physical care to the mother and dismissing his contempt application.  Both parties seek appellate attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s award of physical care to the mother because it is in the best interests of the children.  The district court acted with appropriate discretion in not finding the mother in contempt.  And we decline to award either party appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jasper County, Michael Jacobsen, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Heard at oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Schumacher and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (10 pages)

            An injured state employee appeals the dismissal of his petition for lack of particularity and plausibility.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude the dismissal of the petition was in error based on existing precedent.  And we find no error in the district court’s rejection of the alternative grounds urged for affirmance of the dismissal.  Accordingly, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Robert J. Richter, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Ahlers, P.J., and Chicchelly and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, P.J.  (7 pages)

            Kentrall Barnes appeals his sentence for operating while intoxicated (OWI), third offense.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court did not abuse its discretion when imposing Barnes’s sentence, and it provided adequate rationale for ordering Barnes to serve his sentence for OWI, third offense, consecutively to his sentence in another case after it revoked his probation in that separate case. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Boone County, Ashley Beisch, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Schumacher and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (8 pages)

            Erik Finsand appeals his conviction for indecent exposure–masturbation alternative, a serious misdemeanor, arising from acts of self-stimulation in a Walmart store.  Finsand challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting the district court’s finding of guilt following a bench trial.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm.