2025 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeanie Vaudt, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Tabor, C.J., and Langholz and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  (6 pages)

            Dominick Marcott appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief from his conviction entered after a guilty plea.  He argues mainly that his trial counsel failed to advise him of possible constitutional problems with the possession sentencing enhancement under Iowa Code section 124.401(5) (2020).  OPINION HOLDS: Because Marcott has not shown any of his constitutional theories have merit, his counsel did not breach any essential duty by failing to pursue them.  Even if Marcott could identify a breach, he also failed to show that he would have rejected the beneficial plea agreement.  And while Marcott summarily asserts that two other attorneys also provided subpar representation, he did not adequately brief those issues on appeal, so we find the claims waived.  We thus affirm the denial of his application for postconviction relief.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Scott J. Beattie, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Schumacher, P.J., Chicchelly, J., and Mullins, S.J.  Opinion by Mullins, S.J.  (5 pages)

            Faheem Abdul Jabbar appeals the district court’s order denying his application for postconviction relief, arguing his defense counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to advise him that his Alford plea to an aggravated misdemeanor would not prevent the revocation of his parole from a prior sentence.  OPINION HOLDS: We find Jabbar failed to show a reasonable probability that, but for his misunderstanding, he would have rejected the State’s offer and proceeded to trial.  Because Jabbar has not established the prejudice requirement of his ineffective-assistance claim, we affirm the district court’s denial of relief.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Wapello County, Crystal S. Cronk, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral arguments by Greer, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (5 pages)

            Jeremy Dale Lawson appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief, alleging his postconviction counsel was ineffective.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find no structural error, we affirm the dismissal of Lawson’s postconviction relief application.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for O’Brien County, Nancy L. Whittenburg, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED AND REMANDED FOR DISMISSAL IN PART.  Heard at oral argument by Tabor, C.J., and Ahlers and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, C.J.  Concurrence in part and dissent in part by Langholz, J.  (21 pages)

            Sheila Sundall appeals her convictions for introducing a controlled substance into a detention facility and possessing a controlled substance.  She challenges the sufficiency of the evidence for both convictions.  And she argues that the district court should have granted a new trial on the possession offense because the verdict was against the weight of the evidence.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find substantial evidence does not support the introduction element of introducing a controlled substance into a detention facility, we reverse that conviction.  We find substantial evidence supports the possession charge and affirm that conviction.  And we find that the court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion for new trial as untimely.  PARTIAL DISSENT ASSERTS: Faithfully applying the governing supreme court precedents together, it follows that a person introduces a controlled substance into a detention facility in violation of Iowa Code section 719.8 (2022) when she is arrested carrying a bag concealing drugs, the arresting officer refuses her requests to abandon the bag and instead takes control of it and brings it along with the person into the facility, and the person chooses not to tell law enforcement of the drugs in the bag.  The jury could have found that Sundall did just that.  She was arrested carrying her bag concealing methamphetamine, unsuccessfully tried to get the officer to leave the bag on the side of the road rather than putting it in the front seat of the car that she knew was taking her to the jail, and still chose not to alert any officer that it contained methamphetamine. I would thus affirm both of Sundall’s convictions.  And so, I respectfully dissent from the part of the majority opinion reversing her conviction for introducing a controlled substance into a detention facility.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Crawford County, James N. Daane, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, P.J.  (2 pages)

            Esteban Velazquez-Ramirez appeals the dismissal of his third application for postconviction relief.  He argues a new ground of law creates an exception to the statute of limitations governing his claim.  OPINION HOLDS: We have previously held that the case Velazquez-Ramirez relies on does not satisfy the “new ground of law” exception.  Accordingly, we affirm the district court’s dismissal of his application for postconviction relief.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Paul D. Miller, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Badding, P.J., Sandy, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Opinion by Potterfield, S.J.  (5 pages)

            The Iowa Department of Revenue (the department) imposed a drug-tax assessment of $18,668.16 against Setra Sumerall; the department later initiated this garnishment action, seeking seized funds being held by the Iowa City Police Department.  Sumerall responded with a motion to quash and a motion to dismiss.  The district court denied Sumerall’s motions, concluding his success in a separate district court proceeding, which decided he had the right to the seized monies over the county attorney’s office, did not foreclose the department from taking possession of the funds.  And because Sumerall failed to exhaust his administrative remedies, the court found he could not challenge the validity of the drug-tax assessment in the district court.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jesse Ramirez, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., Badding, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Opinion by Potterfield, S.J.  (6 pages)

Nicole Ruby pled guilty to assault causing bodily injury or mental illness after she deployed chemical spray at a resident in her building without justification.  The district court sentenced her to fourteen days in jail and provided notice Ruby lost her firearm rights.  Ruby appeals, arguing the district court abused its discretion in sentencing her to jail time and challenging the constitutionality of the firearm prohibition, which she contends was a term of her sentence.  OPINION HOLDS: The jail sentence imposed was not unreasonable.  While we agree that the firearm prohibition was a term of her sentence that can be addressed for the first time on direct appeal, we do not reach the merits of Ruby’s constitutional claim because she challenges the statute requiring the firearm prohibition notice, not the statutes that actually prohibit her from carrying dangerous weapons.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeanie Vaudt, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., Sandy, J., and Bower, S.J.  Opinion by Bower, S.J.  (12 pages)

            Dimaryn Ware appeals his convictions for three counts of assault with intent to inflict serious injury and one count each of intimidation with a dangerous weapon with the intent to injure or provoke fear, willful injury causing bodily injury, and felon in possession of a firearm.  Ware challenges the sufficiency of the evidence on all counts, claiming the State failed to prove his participation in the shooting.  He also argues the sentencing court should have merged the willful injury causing bodily injury and assault with intent to inflict serious injury convictions relating to the shooting of M.M.-R.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand with instructions.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Lawrence P. McLellan, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Considered without oral argument by Ahlers, P.J., Chicchelly, J., and Bower, S.J.  Opinion by Bower, S.J. (7 pages)

            Isaiah Cole appeals his conviction and sentence for operating while intoxicated (OWI), second offense.  He claims the district court abused its discretion by denying his motion for a mistrial and challenges the adequacy of the court’s colloquy to establish his stipulation to a prior OWI conviction.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Michael D. Huppert, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Schumacher, P.J., Sandy, J., and Bower, S.J.  Opinion by Sandy, J.  (6 pages)

            Michael Earl Hilson appeals the dismissal of his fourth application for postconviction relief (PCR).  OPINION HOLDS: Because Hilson failed to show the existence of new ground of fact that is relevant to his convictions that could not be raised during the period set forth in section 822.3, we affirm the order dismissing his fourth PCR application.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Scott D. Rosenberg, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, P.J.  (11 pages)

            Dr. Ronald Bergman challenges the district court’s decision on judicial review affirming the Iowa Board of Medicine (Board).  Dr. Bergman raises issues on appeal regarding the Board’s authority to enforce a requirement that he complete a neuropsychological evaluation despite the term being included in a settlement agreement he entered into and the Board’s decision to subsequently suspend his medical license as a disciplinary measure for failing to comply with the requirement.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find Dr. Bergman’s objections to the terms in the settlement agreement terms are untimely and the Board’s disciplinary actions were within its scope of authority and supported by substantial evidence, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, DeDra Schroeder, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Tabor, C.J., and Ahlers and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (13 pages)

            Allysa Luke appeals her convictions for child endangerment resulting in death and child endangerment resulting in serious injury.  She challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting her convictions, and she contends the district court abused its discretion by denying her motion for new trial based on the weight of the evidence, improper statements made by the prosecutor at closing argument, and the admission of cumulative and prejudicial autopsy photos.  OPINION HOLDS: Luke’s convictions are supported by substantial evidence.  The district court did not abuse its discretion when it denied her motion for new trial based on the weight of the evidence.  Luke failed to preserve her claims regarding the prosecutor’s statements during closing arguments and admission of the autopsy photos.