February 2025 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Keokuk County, Crystal S. Cronk, Judge.  AFFIRMED AND REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS.  Heard by Greer, P.J., and Langholz and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, P.J.  (22 pages)

            After being nearly involved in a head-on collision, which resulted in injuries to the driver of the other vehicle, Zachary Brain was investigated for driving while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.  Brain was later criminally charged, and he moved to suppress the evidence obtained through his interactions with officers and the result of the breath test.  The district court denied the motion to suppress, and Brain sought discretionary review of the ruling, which our supreme court granted before transferring the case to us.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s denial of Brain’s motion to suppress and remand for further proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jefferson County, Myron Gookin, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (7 pages).

            Star Auto Company, Inc. (Star Auto) appeals from a breach-of-contract action wherein damages were awarded to Mosinski Enterprises, LLC (Mosinski) based on Star Auto’s failure to competently rebuild Mosinski’s truck engine.  Star Auto argues the district court erred by finding it repudiated the contract with Mosinski and in finding that Mosinski did not breach the warranty by altering the engine’s settings.  OPINION HOLDS: Substantial evidence supports the finding that Star Auto’s repudiation was definite and unequivocal and that Mosinski did not breach the terms of the warranty prior to Star Auto’s repudiation.  Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s entry of judgment in favor of Mosinski.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Mark J. Smith, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Badding, P.J., Langholz, J., and Bower, S.J.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  (12 pages)

            Active Thermal Concepts, Inc. and Active Holdings Group, Inc. appeal a summary-judgment ruling that they breached a contract with Labor Force, Inc. for temporary employees.  OPINION HOLDS: Active’s disputes over the form of Labor Force’s summary judgment filings lack merit—Labor Force’s motion was timely, it contained a statement of undisputed facts, and any failure by Labor Force to expressly specify which of Active’s facts it was disputing in resistance to Active’s competing motion did not require the court to grant Active’s motion.  So too do Active’s substantive arguments fail—the summary-judgment evidence showed the parties intended for the contract to include services to Active Holdings, Labor Force substantially performed its contractual duties to the extent possible, and Labor Force incurred damages from Active’s breach.  We thus affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Labor Force.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeanie Vaudt, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Chicchelly, P.J., Langholz, J., and Carr, S.J.  Opinion by Carr, S.J.  (8 pages)

            Michael Cone Sr., an applicant for postconviction relief (PCR), appeals the district court’s denial of his PCR application, arguing he (1) received ineffective assistance from his trial counsel and (2) is actually innocent.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm, finding a lack of clear and convincing evidence of Cone’s actual innocence, and his trial counsel was not ineffective.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Fae Hoover Grinde, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., Langholz, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Doyle, S.J.  (8 pages)

            Vance Barton appeals from various drug convictions.  On appeal, Barton argues the State committed prosecutorial misconduct during closing arguments “by repeatedly stating a false narrative.”  OPINION HOLDS: Finding no prejudicial prosecutorial misconduct, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Robert D. Tiefenthaler, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Badding, P.J., Langholz, J., and Bower, S.J.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  (8 pages)

            Kimberly Tillman appeals the dismissal of her suit against Jason Hinson for lack of service.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court correctly dismissed Tillman’s suit against Hinson without prejudice under Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.302(5).  Sending the original notice by certified mail is not proper personal service under our rules.  Even if it were proper service, Hinson did not receive the original notice until after Tillman’s much-extended deadline for service.  And we cannot consider any of Tillman’s other arguments because they were not decided by—or for some, even raised to—the district court.

    Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cedar County, Stuart P. Werling, Judge.  CONVICTIONS AFFIRMED; SENTENCES VACATED AND REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING.  Considered by Ahlers, P.J., Chicchelly, J., and Bower, S.J.  Opinion by Bower, S.J. (9 pages)

    Sean Sheets challenges the district court’s admission of evidence of prior instances of abuse committed against the same children in a different county and the court’s failure to recognize it had discretion to consider risk assessment information in his presentence investigation report.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm Sheets’s convictions, vacate his sentences, and remand for resentencing. 
 

    Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Heather Lauber, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered by Tabor, C.J., and Ahlers and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, C.J. (15 pages)

    Invoking the “silent witness” doctrine, the district court allowed the State to admit into evidence a police body camera recording of a surveillance video showing Terence Manning, Jr., punching and kicking another man in a convenience store parking lot.  After seeing that video, the jury convicted Manning of willful injury causing serious injury.  On appeal, Manning claims that the court should have excluded the video exhibit based on his authentication and best-evidence objections.  He also challenges the sufficiency of the State’s evidence that he specifically intended to inflict serious injury.  OPINION HOLDS: We find substantial evidence of Manning’s specific intent.  But because the district court erred in admitting the surveillance video without proper authentication, and that error was not harmless, we reverse Manning’s conviction and remand for a new trial.
 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, James N. Daane, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (11 pages)

            Tran Walker appeals the summary disposition of his application for postconviction relief.  He argues that he was entitled to a hearing and he presented questions of material fact regarding his claims of ineffective assistance of counsel.  OPINION HOLDS: Tran was not entitled to a hearing.  He failed to present any questions of material fact regarding his ineffective-assistance claims.  The district court correctly granted the State’s motion for summary disposition.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Chickasaw County, Laura Parrish, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, P.J.  (14 pages)

            Richard Radloff appeals the district court’s findings, following a bench trial on his wage-claim petition, that he was not owed either a bi-annual bonus or mileage bonus from PTC Trucking, LLC.  Because wages were not withheld, the district court found he was not entitled to liquidated damages, court costs, or attorney’s fees.  PTC Trucking argues it was not Radloff’s employer.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the bonuses were discretionary, not “wages” under Iowa Code chapter 91A (2020), and affirm on this basis.  Because PTC Trucking failed to raise its claim that it was not Radloff’s employer to the district court, we conclude that argument is not preserved for our consideration as an alternative basis to affirm.   

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dallas County, Patrick W. Greenwood, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Badding, P.J., Langholz, JJ., and Telleen, S.J.  Opinion by Telleen, S.J.  (9 pages)

            A driver arrested after methamphetamine was discovered inside her borrowed vehicle challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting her conviction for possession of a controlled substance.  OPINION HOLDS: Reviewing for legal error, we find the State presented just enough evidence to support a finding of constructive possession.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Ian K. Thornhill, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (6 pages)

            A criminal defendant appeals his conviction for sexual abuse in the second degree, challenging the district court’s denial of a motion for mistrial.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we credit the district court’s advantaged position to assess prejudice when a witness mentioned the defendant’s “booking photo,” we find adequate record support for the court’s ruling and discern no abuse of discretion in denying the motion for mistrial.  We affirm.