2025 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Des Moines County, John M. Wright, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Tabor, C.J., and Ahlers and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J. (6 pages)

            Trevor Johnston challenges the evidence supporting his conviction for first-degree theft.  OPINION HOLDS: Following our review of the evidence, we conclude that Johnston’s conviction is supported by sufficient evidence.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Michael J. Shubatt, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (9 pages)

            A criminal defendant appeals his convictions for third-degree sexual abuse, attempted second-degree burglary, and assault with intent to commit sexual abuse.  OPINION HOLDS: Having concluded the jury’s verdicts were supported by substantial record evidence, we affirm all three convictions.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Michael J. Shubatt, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (8 pages)

            A criminal defendant appeals his discretionary sentence, claiming the prosecutor breached the plea agreement at a multi-case sentencing hearing.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the prosecutor did not breach the plea agreement and Dotson agreed to a multi-case sentencing hearing, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Scott D. Rosenberg, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Buller, P.J., Sandy, J., and Telleen, S.J.  Opinion by Telleen, S.J.  (5 pages)

A defendant appeals his convictions for willful injury and domestic abuse assault, arguing he was entitled to a pre-trial determination of his claim to immunity under Iowa Code section 704.13 (Supp. 2017).  OPINION HOLDS: Because the district court was not required to resolve Thompson’s immunity claim prior to trial, we find no legal error mandating reversal in this case.  

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

            Plaintiffs appeal the district court’s decisions to exclude their expert witness from testifying and to deny their motion for new trial based on the exclusion of the expert in this legal malpractice case.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court did not abuse its discretion when it excluded the expert witness’s testimony and denied the motion for new trial.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Madison County, Stacie Ritchie, Judge.  AFFIRMED AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.  Considered without oral argument by Schumacher, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Badding, J.  (6 pages)

            The ME-DE Irrevocable Land Trust, through its trustee Michael Erwin, appeals from the district court’s determination that it breached a real estate auction contract.  OPINION HOLDS: We find that substantial evidence supports the district court’s determination that the land trust repudiated the contract.  We affirm and remand for a determination of reasonable appellate attorney fees. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, John M. Sandy, Judge.  AFFIRMED AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS.  Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Badding, JJ. Sandy, J., takes no part.  Opinion by Badding, J.  (11 pages)

            Billy Oyadare appeals from the district court’s property distribution award in the decree dissolving his marriage to Sarah Oyadare.  OPINION HOLDS: We find that the district court’s property division is equitable, there was no dissipation of marital assets, and the court did not abuse its discretion in awarding Sarah trial attorney fees.  We award Sarah appellate attorney fees and remand to the district court to determine the amount that should be awarded. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, Roger L. Sailer, Tod Deck, and Jeffrey A. Neary, Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, P.J.  (9 pages)

            A defendant appeals his convictions following conditional guilty pleas in two separate cases contending his charges should have been dismissed for failing to meet the speedy-trial requirements of Iowa’s Interstate Agreement on Detainers Act (IADA).  OPINION HOLDS: The defendant failed to preserve error in one of his cases.  In the other case, the defendant failed to comply with the notice requirements of the IADA to trigger the IADA’s 180-day disposition deadline, so the district court correctly denied his motion.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Samantha Gronewald, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Badding, P.J., and Langholz and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  (10 pages)

            Monique Rodriguez-Flores and Jaymes Flores appeal the dismissal of their tort lawsuit against the City of Des Moines arising from Rodriguez-Flores’s slip and fall while walking on a road in a city cemetery after a snowfall.  They argue that the district court improperly granted summary judgment to the City based on the immunity in Iowa Code section 668.10(1)(b) (2021) because a material fact dispute existed about whether the City was following its snow-and-ice-removal policy for roads.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court correctly granted summary judgment because it is undisputed that the city began its snow and ice removal in the cemetery within twelve hours of the snowfall’s end as required by its policy.  The other potential factual disputes argued on appeal are not material to compliance with this policy or not preserved because they were not decided by the district court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, David Odekirk, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Tabor, P.J., and Schumacher and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (10 pages)

            A defendant appeals his convictions for attempted murder and willful injury causing serious injury.  On appeal, he challenges two of the trial court’s evidentiary rulings and asserts that insufficient evidence exists to support the convictions.  OPINION HOLDS: We discern no abuse of discretion in the trial court’s evidentiary rulings.  And this record contains sufficient evidence to support the convictions challenged on appeal.  Accordingly, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Paul D. Scott, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Schumacher, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (7 pages)

            Jason and Teresa Zilk appeal the dismissal of their appeal to the district court of the compensation commission’s appraisement of damages awarded in a condemnation proceeding.  OPINION HOLDS: Because substantial evidence supports the district court’s finding that the Zilks failed to substantially comply with the statutory notice provisions or show good cause for failing to do so, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Christopher Kemp, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Schumacher, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (5 pages)

            Tyrone Bryson appeals the dismissal of his application for postconviction relief from his 1999 convictions and the sanctions imposed by the court.  OPINION HOLDS: Substantial evidence supports the district court’s determination that Bryson’s claim is frivolous, and the court did not abuse its discretion in imposing a penalty for loss of thirty days earned time credit.  Bryson failed to preserve error on his claim that the district court improperly took judicial notice of outside pleadings.  We affirm.