Leann Faye Werts
v.
Iowa Board of Parole
Appellant
Leann Faye Werts
Appellee
Iowa Board of Parole
Attorney for the Appellant
Gordon E. Allen
Attorney for the Appellee
John R. Lundquist, Assistant Attorney General
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeanie K. Vaudt, Judge. AFFIRMED. Heard by Bower, C.J., Badding, J., and Potterfield, S.J. Opinion by Bower, C.J. (10 pages)
Leann Faye Werts challenges the Iowa Board of Parole’s (Board) denial of her conditional release based only on the seriousness of her twenty-year-old offenses. She contends the Board’s reason is contrary to the statutory mandate that release “shall be ordered” when “there is reasonable probability that the person . . . . is able and willing to fulfill the obligations of a law-abiding citizen.” Iowa Code § 906.4 (2021). She maintains the Board’s denial here was contrary to law, “and given the factual record, simply irrational and illogical.” OPINION HOLDS: The Board’s decision denying petitioner conditional release was within its discretion as provided in section 906.4. We affirm the district court’s finding the Board did not prejudice Werts’s substantial rights in denying release.
