2025 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Ringgold County, Brad McCall, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Tabor, C.J., and Schumacher and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (5 pages)

            Richard Hammond challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting a domestic abuse protective order.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Carroll County, Joseph McCarville, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Tabor, C.J., and Schumacher and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (8 pages)

            A father appeals the termination of his parental rights under Iowa Code section 600A.8(3)(b) (2024).  OPINION HOLDS: As the district court correctly determined the father abandoned the child pursuant to section 600A.8(3)(b) and termination is in A.M.’s best interests, we affirm the termination of the father’s parental rights.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dickinson County, David A. Lester, Judge.  APPEAL DISMISSED.  Considered without oral argument by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (4 pages)

            A criminal defendant attempts to appeal following a guilty plea.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding the only error alleged was not preserved and the defendant did not establish good cause, we dismiss the attempted appeal.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Kimberly Ayotte, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered without oral argument by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Badding, J.  (16 pages)

            A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights under Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(f) (2024), challenging each of the three steps in our termination framework.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our de novo review of the record, we find the State failed to prove the statutory ground for termination because there was not clear and convincing evidence that the child could not “be returned to the custody of the child’s parents as provided in section 232.102.”  Iowa Code § 232.116(1)(f)(4).  We accordingly reverse the juvenile court’s ruling terminating the mother’s parental rights and remand for further proceedings.  

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Kimberly Ayotte, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered without oral argument by Tabor, C.J., and Schumacher and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (6 pages)

            Parents separately appeal the termination of their parental rights to their three-year-old son.  OPINION HOLDS: Clear and convincing evidence supports the termination of the parents’ parental rights, termination of the parents’ parental rights is in the child’s best interest, and a guardianship is not the appropriate permanency option here. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Cynthia Finley, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Langholz and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, P.J.  (16 pages)

            A father and mother separately appeal the termination of their parental rights.  Both the mother and father argue the juvenile court erred in finding a statutory basis for termination, the father continues to contest the juvenile court’s determination that termination was in the best interests of the child, the Department of Health and Human Services made reasonable efforts, and no permissive exception applies.  OPINION FINDS: Because we find the child could not have been returned to the care and custody of the child’s parents at the time of termination, termination is in the best interests of the child, the Department made reasonable efforts, and no permissive exception applies, we affirm the termination of parental rights.  

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Hancock County, Karen Kaufman Salic, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Langholz and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  (10 pages)

            A mother and father both appeal the termination of their parental rights to their sons, arguing that there is not clear and convincing evidence to support the ground for termination and that termination is not in the best interests of the sons.  OPINION HOLDS: On our de novo review, we agree with the juvenile court.  The State proved the statutory ground for terminating the mother and father’s parental rights under Iowa Code section 232.116(1)(h) (2024).  There is clear and convincing evidence that the sons could not be safely returned to the mother and father at the time of the termination hearing.  And termination of the parent’s parental rights is in the sons’ best interests given the parent’s failure to address the safety concerns of their home and still struggling with basic parenting skills.  We thus affirm on both appeals. 

    Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Michelle Jungers, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Tabor, C.J., and Schumacher and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, C.J.  (6 pages)

    A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her thirteen-year-old son.  OPINION HOLDS: Because of the mother’s ongoing mental-health struggles, we affirm the termination.  
 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Floyd County, Elizabeth Batey, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered without oral argument by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Badding, J.  (11 pages)

            A mother and father separately appeal the termination of their parental rights.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the children could not have been returned to either parent’s custody at the time of termination, termination is in each child’s best interests, and no permissive exception applies.  We therefore affirm the termination of the mother and father’s respective parental rights. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jasper County, Steven J. Holwerda, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered without oral argument by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (7 pages)

            A father and a child’s guardian ad litem (GAL) separately appeal the termination of the father’s parental rights, arguing that a guardianship with the maternal grandmother was in the child’s best interests.  The GAL also argues the juvenile court erred in denying a motion for continuance.  OPINION HOLDS: Termination of the father’s parental rights is in the child’s best interests and the court did not abuse its discretion in denying the GAL’s motion for continuance.  We affirm on both appeals. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Charles D. Fagan, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON BOTH APPEALS.  Considered without oral argument by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, P.J.  (11 pages)

            A mother and father separately appeal the juvenile court’s order terminating their respective parental rights to their three children.  OPINION HOLDS: The State established statutory grounds for termination with respect to both parents.  Termination of their respective parental rights is in the children’s best interests given that both parents present a safety risk to the children.  While both parents share bonds with the children, the detrimental effects of termination and the severing of those bonds do not outweigh their inability to meet the children’s needs, so we decline to apply a permissive exception to preserve either parents’ parental rights. 

    Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Grundy County, Michelle Jungers, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Tabor, C.J., and Schumacher and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, C.J.  (7 pages)

    A mother appeals the termination of her parental rights to her two-year-old son, contesting the statutory grounds for termination and requesting six more months to achieve reunification.  OPINION HOLDS: After carefully considering the record, we reach the same conclusions as the juvenile court and affirm the termination order.