2025 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Justin Lightfoot, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, P.J. (11 pages)

            Brandon Nelson appeals following his thirteen criminal convictions related to a high-speed chase and firearm altercation with law enforcement.  On appeal, Nelson challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting four of his convictions: (1) assault on a peace officer while using or displaying a dangerous weapon; (2) interference with official acts while armed with a firearm; (3) going armed with intent; and (4) attempted murder of a peace officer.  He also contends that the district court abused its discretion during sentencing by failing to consider his expressions of remorse.  OPINION HOLDS: Substantial evidence supports Nelson’s convictions on all challenged counts.  The district court properly considered Nelson’s expressions of remorse and did not abuse its discretion in sentencing. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Christopher L. Bruns, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Schumacher, P.J., Badding, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Doyle, S.J.  (6 pages)

            Tajh Ross appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: Because Ross cannot show a reasonable probability that he would have received a new trial if counsel had timely applied for further review after this court affirmed the denial of his first application for postconviction relief, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Thomas A. Bitter, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard at oral argument by Tabor, C.J., and Schumacher and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, J.  (26 pages)

            Dianne Christopher appeals a summary judgment ruling in favor of the defendants on her claims alleging defamation and invasion of privacy.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Wapello County, Michael Carpenter, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Tabor, C.J., and Schumacher and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (3 pages)

            Venhure Yosef Tsegay appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief (PCR).  OPINION HOLDS: Because the PCR court thoroughly addressed the issue in its ruling, we affirm by memorandum opinion.  See Iowa Ct. R. 21.26(1)(d).

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Benton County, Kevin McKeever, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard at oral argument by Schumacher, P.J., and Buller and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (18 pages)

            Two defendants appeal an adverse jury verdict in a coemployee gross negligence action arising from Michael Griffith’s death at work, claiming they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law, that the district court erred in the gross negligence jury instructions given, and allege evidentiary issues in admitting administrative citations and certain testimony.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding substantial evidence existed on the gross‑negligence claim for a reasonable jury to find the defendants liable, they are not entitled to judgment as a matter of law, and the court did not err submitting the questions to the jury.  We find no legal errors in the jury instructions, determine any error in references to evidence underlying the citations was harmless, and the testimony of a treatment provider and a therapist was proper.  We affirm.

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

            David Jacobs appeals an order modifying the legal-custody and physical-care provisions of the decree dissolving his marriage to Temeshia Bomato.  He claims the district court erred in granting Temeshia’s request for sole legal custody and physical care of the parties’ child.  He also challenges the district court’s denial of his request to modify the summer-visitation provisions of the parties’ original decree.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm the district court’s modification order.  We decline to award appellate attorney fees. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, David P. Odekirk, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Tabor, C.J., Schumacher, J., and Mullins, S.J.  Opinion by Mullins, S.J.  (11 pages)

            Trashon Montgomery appeals his convictions for first-degree burglary and willful injury causing serious injury, challenging the trial court’s admission of prior-bad-acts evidence and the sufficiency of the evidence to support the jury’s verdict on both counts.  OPINION HOLDS: We find no abuse of discretion in the admission of testimony regarding Montgomery’s prior assaults on the victim, and we find sufficient evidence to convict Montgomery on each of the elements he challenges on appeal.  We therefore affirm his convictions.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Boone County, Christopher C. Polking, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  Dissent by Langholz, J.  (22 pages)

            An applicant appeals the district court’s summary dismissal of his first application for postconviction relief, arguing that his postconviction-relief counsel was ineffective.  OPINION HOLDS: Limiting our review to the claim actually briefed, and finding Uranga did not prove counsel was ineffective, we affirm. DISSENT ASSERTS:  If Iowa’s statutory right to counsel in postconviction-relief proceedings still guarantees that court-appointed counsel will assist—rather than abandon—their clients, that right was violated here. The majority’s contrary conclusion runs afoul of governing precedent and the underlying principles of fundamental fairness.  Because abandoning Uranga without a voice in the court’s summary disposition of his claims could never be an ethical strategy, we do not need any more evidence to find that Uranga’s counsel breached an essential duty.  Since this conduct left Uranga constructively without counsel at a crucial stage of the postconviction-relief proceeding and thus rendered the entire proceeding presumptively unreliable, Uranga is entitled to reversal without proving any further prejudice.  And Uranga presents this ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claim in his briefing to us—so we should not avoid following the governing law based on a hyper-technical reading of his arguments.  I would thus reverse and remand for further proceedings with the effective assistance of counsel to which Uranga is entitled.

            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.  (16 pages)

            Ryan Waller appeals the district court’s decree dissolving his marriage to Sasha Kill.  Ryan challenges the district court’s determinations regarding physical care of their children, income for child and spousal support purposes, and the amount and duration of spousal support.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court correctly determined that placing the children in Sasha’s physical care is in the best interests of the children.  The decree equitably determined Ryan’s income, as well as the amount and duration of spousal support awarded to Sasha.  We decline to address Ryan’s arguments that were not properly preserved for appeal and deny Sasha’s request for appellate attorney fees.

    Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Joel A. Dalrymple, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., Chicchelly, J., and Bower, S.J.  Opinion by Bower, S.J.  (7 pages)

    William Riley appeals the district court’s denial of his application for postconviction relief, claiming the court “erred by not recusing itself from this case”; his trial counsel was ineffective by failing to adequately advise him “as to the benefits of a jury trial over a bench trial”; and he is actually innocent.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm. 
 

    Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Korie L. Talkington, Judge.  SENTENCE AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED FOR ENTRY OF A CORRECTED SENTENCING ORDER.  Considered without oral argument by Tabor, C.J., and Schumacher and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, C.J.  (9 pages)

    Bradley Osborn appeals his sentence for two counts of aggravated misdemeanor assault, alleging that the district court considered only the nature of the offenses when denying his request for deferred judgment and impermissibly relied only on the existence of two victims in imposing consecutive terms. Osborn also argues that the court’s designation of the county jail as the place of confinement was illegal.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding no abuse of discretion, we affirm Osborn’s consecutive sentences.  We remand solely for the district court to commit Osborn to the custody of the director of the Iowa Department of Corrections.
 

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

            John Anderson, a former university student, appeals the district court’s order dismissing his previously adjudicated discrimination claims.  OPINION HOLDS: We summarily affirm the district court’s order dismissing Anderson’s petition.