2025 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Monica Zrinyi Ackley, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Schumacher, P.J., Chicchelly, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Doyle, S.J.  (6 pages)

            Zachary Verdeyen appeals his convictions of second-degree sexual abuse and lascivious acts with a child.  OPINION HOLDS: Substantial evidence supports the jury’s finding that Verdeyen is guilty of both charges, so we affirm his convictions.

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

            Brianna Moss pleaded guilty to criminal mischief in the second degree and possession of a controlled substance.  The district court sentenced her to concurrent prison terms of five years and 365 days.  Moss raises two issues in this appeal of her sentence.  First, she contends that the court improperly relied on unproven conduct—her failures to appear for sentencing and to maintain contact with her probation officer.  Second, she alleges that the court abused its discretion by choosing prison over probation.  OPINION HOLDS: Finding that the district court neither considered impermissible factors nor abused its discretion by imposing incarceration, we affirm Moss’s sentence.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Shelby County, Amy Zacharias, Judge.  AFFIRMED ON APPEAL; AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED ON CROSS-APPEAL.  Considered without oral argument by Schumacher, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Badding, J.  (7 pages)

            Scott Rasmussen appeals, and Michelle Rasmussen cross-appeals, the property division in the decree dissolving their marriage.  They each challenge the amount of the cash equalization payment.  Scott argues the payment is too high because Michelle dissipated marital assets, while Michelle argues the payment is too low because of an excluded asset and errors in the court’s calculations.  Scott also challenges the court’s decision to award an empty lot at Lake Panorama to Michelle.    OPINION HOLDS: We decline to apply the dissipation doctrine to Michelle’s spending that occurred during the marriage, but we do subtract funds she used to pay off a marital debt from her liquidated 401(k) funds.  We affirm the district court’s division of assets, with the addition of assigning Scott’s service truck to him in the amount of $30,000.  Following our recalculation of the property award, we raise Scott’s equalization payment by $33,000.  Lastly, we decline Michelle’s request for appellate attorney fees. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Scott D. Rosenberg, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.  Considered without oral argument by Schumacher, P.J., and Chicchelly and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (12 pages)

            Lee Anne McColl appeals the economic provisions of the decree dissolving her marriage to Jeffrey Howe.  OPINION HOLDS: We modify the provisions of the decree dividing the parties’ assets to require that Jeffey pay Lee Anne an additional $6500 but affirm in all other respects.  We decline to award Lee Anne appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Kellyann M. Lekar, Judge.  AFFIRMED AS MODIFIED.  Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (13 pages)

            A spouse appeals the division of property in the decree dissolving her marriage with her husband.  She also makes claims for trial attorney and expert witness fees, as well as requesting appellate attorney fees.  OPINION HOLDS: We find the increase of net value of an LLC formed during the marriage with the spouses as members should have been considered a divisible marital asset and modify the decree accordingly.  We otherwise affirm the district court’s decree and deny the wife’s request for appellate attorney fees.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Patrick R. Grady, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Langholz and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  (5 pages)

            Chloe Clark appeals the denial of postconviction relief from her simple-misdemeanor conviction for fifth-degree criminal mischief.  She argues that she received ineffective assistance of counsel because her counsel failed to ensure her plea was knowing and voluntary as she thought she was pleading guilty to littering.  OPINION HOLDS: Even assuming counsel breached an essential duty, Clark failed to prove prejudice.  There is no reasonable probability that Clark would not have pleaded guilty to this simple misdemeanor offense given the favorable plea agreement that resulted in the dismissal of two felony offenses.   

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Kevin McKeever, Judge.  CONVICTIONS AND SENTENCES AFFIRMED IN PART AND VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED FOR ENTRY OF CORRECTED JUDGMENT AND SENTENCE.  Considered without oral argument by Badding, P.J., Langholz, J., and Telleen, S.J.  Opinion by Telleen, S.J. (7 pages)

            Bryant Wallace appeals his conviction and sentence, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction for intimidation with a dangerous weapon with intent (Count I).  He also asserts the district court erred by imposing an uncharged sentencing enhancement and by failing to merge his conviction for conspiracy (Count III) with his conviction under Count I.  OPINION HOLDS: We find substantial evidence supports the jury’s verdict on Count I, and so we affirm Wallace’s conviction for intimidation with a dangerous weapon with intent.  As for the sentencing claims, we reject Wallace’s challenge to the mandatory minimum but vacate his conviction under Count III.  We remand this case for entry of a corrected judgment and sentence.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Iowa County, Justin Lightfoot, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Considered without oral argument by Tabor, C.J., and Ahlers and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Sandy, J.  (9 pages)

            Van Otegham Dairy Partnership (VODP) appeals from the district court’s ruling granting Spahn & Rose Lumber Company’s (S&R) motion for summary judgment, arguing the district court erred (1) “in concluding that boilerplate fine print disclaiming responsibility for materials selection nullified S&R’s” (a) “express warranty to complete a workmanlike barn” and (b) “express agreement to design and build a dairy barn of good quality” and (2) “because [the district court’s] interpretation of the materials disclaimer violated the doctrine of expectations.”  OPINION HOLDS: We reverse the district court’s ruling granting summary judgment as to counts one and four of VODP’s amended petition, and remand for further proceedings.  Because we can decide this appeal on VODP’s primary arguments, we need not address whether the contract was a contract of adhesion subject to the doctrine of reasonable expectations. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Casey D. Jones (plea) and Nicholas Scott (sentencing), Judges.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., Sandy, J., and Mullins, S.J.  Opinion by Greer, P.J.  (13 pages)

            Doyen appeals his guilty plea, arguing that because he never signed his written guilty plea, the court cannot show he voluntarily and intelligently agreed to its terms, including waiving his right to file a motion in arrest of judgment, which our appellate courts have found to be a prerequisite to finding good cause to challenge the terms of his guilty plea on appeal.  OPINION HOLDS: We find Doyen had good cause to challenge his appeal.  But the record is devoid of information on whether the guilty plea was entered voluntarily and intelligently or if Doyen would have chosen to go to trial absent a defect in the guilty plea.  We affirm Doyen’s conviction and sentence; he may seek relief through a postconviction-relief action if he chooses.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Winneshiek County, Laura J. Parrish, Judge.  WRIT SUSTAINED IN PART, WRIT ANNULLED IN PART, AND CASE REMANDED.  Considered without oral argument by Tabor, C.J., and Schumacher and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (9 pages)

            Roger Lundtvedt contests the legality of the district court’s orders issued in a contempt action.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the district court exceeded the law by requiring Lundtvedt to pay attorney fees to purge his contempt, we sustain the writ of certiorari as to that part of the contempt order but annul the writ in all other particulars.  We remand to the district court for entry of an order consistent with this decision.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Woodbury County, James N. Daane, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Ahlers, P.J., and Badding and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Badding, J.  Dissent by Buller, J.  (19 pages)

            Dawn Cook appeals from a ruling that granted Scott Flieder’s petition to modify the parties’ dissolution decree to grant him physical care of the parties’ two children.  After moving out of state in 2018 and leaving the children in her mother’s care since then, Dawn claims that her “heavy reliance upon her mother to assist in raising the children does not make Scott a superior parent,” considering Scott’s failure to pay her any child support and his sporadic visitation with the children.  OPINION HOLDS: In this close case, we give careful consideration to the district court’s findings that Dawn previously denied Scott access to the children, Scott has recently become much more active in the children’s lives, and the children’s best interests are served by allowing them to remain in a familiar environment in their father’s care.  We affirm the district court’s decision granting Scott physical care.  DISSENT ASSERTS: Because the father is an unemployed convicted sex offender and admitted domestic abuser, has limited to no experience meaningfully parenting the children on his own, and has never paid a dime of child support, I dissent from the majority's finding that he is a superior caretaker compared to the mother, who prioritized her career to financially support the children.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, Blake H. Norman, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered without oral argument by Greer, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (7 pages)

            A party to a real estate agreement appeals a ruling finding the agreement was not unconscionable, declaring the other party is the legal owner, and issuing a writ of possession to the other party.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm.