July 2025 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Madison County, Thomas P. Murphy, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS.  Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Badding, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  Special concurrence by Greer, P.J.  (12 pages)

            The beneficiaries of Lanny Wenck’s estate appeal the grant of summary judgment in this declaratory judgment proceeding, which determined who owned bank accounts owned by Wenck prior to his death.  OPINION HOLDS: Because there are questions of material fact as to whether another person was properly added as an owner with rights of survivorship to Wenck’s consumer bank accounts prior to his death, we reverse the district court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the bank and affirm its denial of the beneficiaries’ motion for partial summary judgment.  There is no question of material fact as to whether Wenck gifted two of his companies to an individual prior to his death.  The district court correctly determined that the two companies owned the commercial accounts, so the individual who now owns the two companies was properly added to those accounts.  SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: I disagree with the majority opinion that there are questions of material fact as to whether Lanny orally agreed to add Allen as an owner to Lanny’s consumer accounts.  The unrebutted evidence suggests otherwise.  And unlike the majority, I think the record leaves a question that on the face of the pleadings requires additional development beyond the summary judgment stage.  So, while I agree that the case should be remanded, I would limit the questions to the application of the consumer account agreement only after, if needed for the resolution, the questions about previous ownership is answered.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Boone County, Derek Johnson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Schumacher, P.J., and Buller and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (4 pages)

            A postconviction relief applicant appeals the dismissal of his application.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding he has not established his claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Kathleen A. Kilnoski, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Tabor, C.J., and Schumacher and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, C.J.  (4 pages)

            Shawn Jenkins appeals the dismissal of his application for postconviction relief, alleging that his first counsel was ineffective for misinforming him about the mandatory minimum sentence.  OPINION HOLDS: On our de novo review, we agree with the district court’s conclusion that Jenkins’s second counsel’s “effective representation of him before and during his plea and sentencing hearing cured any alleged ineffectiveness” of his first counsel.  And for the reasons detailed by the district court, Jenkins has failed to establish prejudice.  So, we affirm with this memorandum opinion.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Marshall County, Jennifer Miller, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard at oral argument by Tabor, C.J., and Ahlers and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (7 pages)

            Thomas and Cindy Degner appeal the district court’s decree partitioning heirs property.  They argue that the district court’s partition of one of the nine tracts of land at issue was inequitable.  They also argue that they should receive a ten percent discount on the value of two other tracts of land because they continue to own undivided shares of those tracts with Thomas’s cousin.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court’s partition of the tracts of land is equitable, and no discount is necessary.  As a result, we affirm the district court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Jeffrey A. Neary, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (8 pages)

            A real estate contract holder appeals the district court order allowing the property purchaser to prepay on a real estate contract.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding the contract did not imply the purchaser had a right to prepay the real estate contract and the perfect-tender-in-time rule applied, we reverse and remand.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Linda M. Fangman, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard at oral argument by Schumacher, P.J., and Buller and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J. (10 pages)

            A criminal defendant appeals his conviction for willful injury causing bodily injury, asserting the district court erred in a definition in the stand-your-ground jury instructions.  OPINION HOLDS: We find error was not preserved or was otherwise waived and any preserved error was harmless given overwhelming evidence of guilt.  We affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeanie Vaudt, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard at oral argument by Tabor, C.J., and Greer, Chicchelly, Langholz, and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, C.J.  Dissent by Langholz, J. (25 pages)

            A husband appeals the dismissal of his petition against medical providers for the wrongful death of his wife.  Although he is not an attorney, he represented himself as an individual and as the administrator of the estate throughout the district court proceedings, which the court found to be the unauthorized practice of law and dismissed without prejudice.  On appeal, the husband contends he could proceed pro se because his wife died without a will and he was the sole beneficiary of her estate.  Short of that, he contends the district court should have granted his motion to amend his pleading.  OPINION HOLDS: The sole-beneficiary argument was not preserved for appeal.  Dismissal was proper because the wrongful death claims belonged to the estate, and nothing in Iowa law allows an administrator to bring those claims pro se.  The husband engaged in the unauthorized practice of law, and his petition was void and a legal nullity.  Thus, we affirm the dismissal of his action without prejudice.  DISSENT ASSERTS: The district court’s dismissal of this wrongful-death suit without first giving the improperly represented parties the chance to hire a lawyer flouts precedent and the principles underlying our unauthorized-practice-of-law doctrine.  And this error is properly preserved for our review.  So I would reverse the dismissal and remand for the district court to enter an order dismissing the case only if no lawyer appears to represent the plaintiffs within thirty days.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Monroe County, Crystal S. Cronk, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Heard at oral argument by Schumacher, P.J., and Buller and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Sandy, J.  (15 pages)

            Brian Hager appeals two rulings of the district court that effectively deprived him of the opportunity to present a hostile work environment claim to a jury.  He contends he sufficiently pled a hostile work environment claim in his original petition.  Thus, he argues the district court erred by denying his request for a proposed jury instruction for a hostile work environment claim.  Alternatively, he asserts the district court abused its discretion in denying his pretrial motion to amend his petition and motion to conform to proof to “add” a hostile work environment claim.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we conclude Hager’s original petition sufficiently pled a hostile work environment claim, we conclude the district court’s ruling on his pretrial motion to amend improperly denied him the opportunity to move forward to trial with such a claim.  Accordingly, we find Hager is entitled to a new trial on a hostile work environment claim.  And because we find this issue to be dispositive, we do not reach Hager’s alternative arguments.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clinton County, Mark R. Lawson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Schumacher, P.J., and Buller and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (7 pages)

            A criminal defendant appeals the sentence imposed following remand, claiming the sentencing court failed to properly weigh an expert evaluation in determining the appropriate sentence.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding the court properly weighed the totality of the evidence in imposing sentence, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Jason D. Besler, Judge.  APPEAL DISMISSED.  Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Langholz and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, P.J.  Special concurrence by Sandy, J.  (6 pages)

            Downing appeals a firearm prohibition, imposed shortly after his sentencing order.  He argues the firearm prohibition violates his state and federal constitutional rights.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the firearm prohibition is not part of his sentence, and as a result, Downing lacks good cause to appeal.  We dismiss his appeal.  SPECIAL CONCURRENCE ASSERTS: While I join the majority’s well-reasoned opinion, I write separately to highlight the jurisdictional purgatory in which citizens served with firearm prohibition notices find themselves trapped.  The current state of our law makes it unclear whose responsibility it is to review a district court’s issuance of a firearm prohibition notice, which is separate and distinct from that court’s sentencing order.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Boone County, James A. McGlynn, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.  Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Langholz and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Sandy, J.  (9 pages)

            Michael Morrisey appeals from the district court’s judgment and post-judgment orders denying his request for attorney fees and requiring him to pay All Iowa Homes, Inc.’s (AIH) costs from the date of AIH’s offer to confess judgment through the end of the case.  Morrisey argues that the attorney-fees provisions of the real estate purchase agreement between him and AIH did not merge with the deed and the district court’s failure to recognize that merger led it to miscalculate costs.  OPINION HOLDS: Because AIH’s failure to disclose a material defect was a breach of the purchase agreement, the attorney-fees provision does not merge with the deed, and reasonable attorney fees shall be assessed. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, John D. Telleen and Henry W. Latham, II, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Schumacher, P.J., and Buller and Sandy, JJ.  Telleen, S.J., takes no part.  Opinion by Buller, J. (10 pages)

            A criminal defendant appeals from fifteen convictions and the resulting sentence.  His complaints relate to denial of his motion for new trial, denial of his motion to continue the sentencing hearing, and the court’s exercise of discretion when it sentenced him to prison for two hundred fifty‑five consecutive years.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm.