2025 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Delaware County, Thomas A. Bitter, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED FOR FURTHER PROCEEDINGS.  Considered by Ahlers, P.J., and Chicchelly and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (11 pages)

            A parent appeals a sanctions order that awarded attorney fees and dismissed his petition to modify custody.  OPINIONS HOLDS: Because the district court did not abuse its discretion in finding a violation of Iowa Rule of Civil Procedure 1.413 and imposing a monetary sanction against the father, we affirm in part.  But dismissal was not an appropriate sanction under our case law, so we reverse in part and remand for further proceedings. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Andrew Chappell, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Heard by Ahlers, P.J., Sandy, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Opinion by Sandy, J.  (15 pages)

            A Cedar Rapids resident appeals from the district court’s dismissal of his lawsuit claiming members of the Cedar Rapids city council violated Iowa’s open meetings statute when they closed the job interview of an applicant for the position of city clerk and argues the district court erred in its orders closing part of the trial and sealing the recording of the job interview meeting.  OPINION HOLDS: We reverse the district court’s judgment and hold that the closed session should have been reopened to the public upon the council’s assessment that no needless and irreparable injury would occur to the applicant during the interview.  Accordingly, we remand for the district court to determine damages and any applicable defenses.  We affirm the district court’s denial of the resident’s motion to reconsider insofar as it relates to the district court’s decision to close part of trial and seal the closed meeting recording. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Coleman McAllister, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, P.J.  (11 pages)

            Sean Huffman appeals an Iowa Department of Health and Human Services’s founded child abuse assessment and the placement of his name on the child abuse registry.  OPINION HOLDS: We find no violation of Huffman’s rights, and we conclude Huffman has failed to show the invalidity of the Department’s findings and placement of his name on the central registry. Accordingly, we affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Mahaska County, Patrick McAvan, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  (8 pages)

            A father appeals the private termination of his parental rights to his son under Iowa Code chapter 600A (2023).  He argues the mother did not prove the statutory ground of abandonment or that termination is in the son’s best interest.  OPINION HOLDS: On our de novo review, giving the juvenile court’s factual findings their due weight, we find the father has not maintained substantial and continuous contact with the son since 2020 and thus abandoned the son.  And termination of the father’s parental rights is in the son’s best interest, especially considering the limited father-son relationship and the healthy environment now provided by the mother and her fiancé.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Richard H. Davidson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Greer, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (16 pages)

            A criminal defendant appeals his convictions for murder in the second degree, abuse of a corpse, and theft in the second degree.  He argues prosecutorial misconduct, challenges the jury instructions on territorial jurisdiction, and claims the district court abused its discretion in imposing consecutive rather than concurrent terms of incarceration.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the defendant cannot prove he was prejudiced by any alleged misconduct, error was not preserved on the territorial-jurisdiction claim, and the district court did not abuse its discretion in imposing consecutive sentences, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, Rustin T. Davenport, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, P.J. (6 pages)

            Randol Garcia appeals his sentence, alleging that the district court abused its discretion in sentencing him to a term of incarceration.  Garcia, a juvenile at the time of the commission of the offense, argues the court failed to fully consider mitigating factors when formulating the court’s sentencing decision.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm Garcia’s sentence, finding no abuse of discretion by the district court.  

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Tabitha Turner, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Heard by Schumacher, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, P.J. (7 pages)

            The State appeals the dismissal of its prosecution of Teara Cole after the district court found the State violated Cole’s right to speedy indictment.  The parties dispute the event by which Iowa’s speedy-indictment rule measures the permissible indictment window.  OPINION HOLDS: With the benefit of recent guidance from our supreme court, we conclude the district court erred by calculating the speedy-indictment window from the date of Cole’s arrest rather than the date of Cole’s initial appearance.   Accordingly, we reverse and remand for further proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, Andrea J. Dryer, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, C.J., and Ahlers and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (3 pages)

            A defendant challenges the sentences imposed following his guilty plea.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court did not abuse its discretion when making its sentencing determination.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cherokee County, John M. Sandy, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Heard by Greer, P.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ.  Sandy, J., takes no part.  Opinion by Greer, P.J.  (12 pages)

            Jeffrey Goodwin is a sexually violent predator committed to State care at the Civil Commitment Unit for Sexual Offenders (CCUSO); he brought a civil suit with four counts of negligence against the State based on allegations the State-employed psychologist who provided him mental-health treatment at CCUSO engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with him during his weekly therapy sessions.  The State successfully moved for summary dismissal based upon the claim that Goodwin’s failure to enlist an expert and file a certificate of merit was fatal to his case under Iowa Code section 147.140 (2022).  Goodwin challenges that ruling on appeal, arguing an expert was not necessary to establish that engaging in sexual conduct with one’s mental-health patient was improper.  OPINION HOLDS: Because each of Goodwin’s four negligence claims require expert testimony to establish the standard of care and whether the psychologist’s alleged conduct violated that standard, he was required to file a certificate of merit within sixty days of the State’s answer.  His failure to do so mandates dismissal with prejudice; we affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Clinton County, Kimberly K. Shepherd, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J. (4 pages)           

            James Troy Johnson appeals the sentence imposed by the district court after pleading guilty to possession of a controlled substance, third or subsequent offense.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find the district court did not abuse its discretion when sentencing Johnson, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Lawrence P. McLellan, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED WITH DIRECTIONS.  Considered by Schumacher, P.J., and Badding and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Schumacher, P.J.  (8 pages)

            Cody Chandler appeals the district court’s award of costs following a defense verdict in Chandler’s personal-injury action.  Chandler claims the district court abused its discretion by taxing him the costs of an expert witness deposition, a portion of his own deposition, and an expert witness fee.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand with directions.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, Karen Kaufman Salic, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Chicchelly and Sandy, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (7 pages)

            Jason Tyer appeals his sentence for domestic abuse assault, third offense.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the order sentencing Tyer to serve a term of no more than five years in prison with a minimum sentence of five years complies with the law, we affirm.