Court of Appeals Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, David M. Cox, Judge.  REVERSED AND REMANDED.  Heard by Schumacher, P.J., Langholz, J., and Doyle, S.J.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  Dissent by Schumacher, P.J.  (28 pages)

            Keith Rath and Dennis Faltis appeal the district court’s grant of summary judgment dismissing their breach-of-contract and related claims because it concluded that they are not intended third-party beneficiaries of a force-placed insurance policy issued by Arch Insurance Company to their bank.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the insurance policy includes an endorsement increasing the coverage above the bank’s interest and giving plaintiffs a right to payment as a loss payee, the policy manifests an intent to benefit plaintiffs.  They are thus third-party beneficiaries under the insurance contract, and the district court erred in dismissing their claims.  DISSENT ASSERTS: The force-placed insurance policy does not name the borrower as an additional insured, expressly delineate that the policy covers the borrower’s interest in the insured property, or otherwise state that the borrower is a beneficiary of the lender’s coverage, including as that of a third-party beneficiary.  Rather the policy states no coverage, directly or indirectly, is provided to the borrower.  On this basis, the trial court properly granted summary judgment, which we should affirm.  As we do not, I respectfully dissent.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Jeffrey L. Larson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Schumacher and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  (10 pages)

            Elisha Stokes appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment dismissing a gross-negligence claim against his coworker, Mario Murillo.  OPINION HOLDS:  Stokes’s claim that Murillo’s operation of the rebar-cutting machine with the safety mechanism disabled fails because Stokes has shown no evidence from which a jury could find that Murillo knew that injury was probable rather than just possible from that operation.  Stokes failed to preserve error on his other argument of gross negligence because it was not raised in, or decided by, the district court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Des Moines County, Jennifer S. Bailey, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (4 pages)

            David Myers challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction for domestic abuse assault causing injury.  OPINION HOLDS: To the extent Myers intends to raise evidentiary challenges, he has not sufficiently developed the arguments and failed to preserve them for our review.  Myers’s conviction is supported by substantial evidence.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Sarah Crane, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Buller, JJ.  Tabor, J., takes no part.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (5 pages)

            An applicant appeals the denial of his third application for postconviction relief, asserting ineffective assistance in trial counsel’s handling of the victim’s mental-health records.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find trial counsel was not ineffective, we affirm the denial of postconviction relief.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Stuart P. Werling, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Badding and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (8 pages)

            Michael Smith appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief.  He asserts plea counsel provided ineffective assistance in two ways.  First, he claims that counsel ignored his directive to withdraw the guilty pleas unless the sentencing court agreed to run all his sentences concurrently.  Second, he argues that no factual basis existed for his plea to interference with official acts while displaying a dangerous weapon.  OPINION HOLDS: Plea counsel’s account, which the postconviction court found credible, was that Smith did not request to withdraw his pleas.  We decline to disturb that finding.  And we find the facts support the crime and form a factual basis for Smith’s plea of guilty.  Finding counsel did not fail in any professional duty, we do not address prejudice and affirm the denial of relief. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Paul D. Scott, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Chicchelly, J.  (3 pages)

            Deonte Williams appeals the order granting summary dismissal of his application for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the face of Williams’s application shows it was untimely, the court did not err in granting summary dismissal.  Because Williams did not challenge and the postconviction court did not rule on the constitutionality of Iowa Code section 822.3 (2022), error is not preserved and we do not address the claim on appeal.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Marshall County, Amy M. Moore, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Ahlers, J.  (7 pages)

            Trenton Brekke appeals his sentences and the modification of appeal bail conditions following entry of his Alford plea to multiple offences.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court did not abuse its discretion when sentencing Brekke, and Brekke’s challenge to the appeal bail conditions is not properly before us because Brekke failed to file a notice of appeal from the order modifying the bail terms.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Andrew Chappell, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (5 pages)

            A plaintiff appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment to the defendant in a professional negligence case.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the district court correctly applied the law, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Boone County, Amy M. Moore, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J.  (7 pages)

            An applicant appeals the denial of postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the applicant has not proven counsel breached an essential duty or the reasonable probability of acquittal on his claims, we affirm.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Webster County, Angela L. Doyle, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Buller and Langholz, JJ.  Opinion by Langholz, J.  (17 pages)

            Chad Ruby appeals the district court’s grant of summary judgment dismissing his premises-liability and negligence-per-se claims and its denial of his cross-motion for partial summary judgment on his negligence-per-se claim—all brought against Justina Sheehan, the host of a party where Ruby was stabbed by another guest.  OPINION HOLDS: On the premises-liability claim, Sheehan—as a possessor of a private residence and social host—had no duty to prevent another guest from stabbing Ruby during the party.  And Ruby’s negligence-per-se claim fails because the city ordinance is not specific enough to establish a negligence-per-se standard.  We thus affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment to Sheehan and its denial of Ruby’s cross-motion.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, David P. Odekirk, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Chicchelly, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J. (7 pages)

            Diontay Cobbs appeals following his convictions for first-degree robbery and using a juvenile to commit an indictable offense.  Cobbs challenges the sufficiency of the evidence supporting his conviction for using a juvenile to commit an indictable offense and claims the district court abused its discretion by sentencing him to a seventy-percent mandatory minimum and consecutive sentences.  OPINION HOLDS: Upon our review, we affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Bremer County, Chris Foy, Judge.  SENTENCE VACATED AND REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING.  Considered by Greer, P.J., and Ahlers and Buller, JJ.  Opinion by Buller, J. (7 pages)

            A juvenile criminal defendant appeals his mandatory-minimum sentence for second-degree sexual abuse.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find the district court failed to consider one of the constitutionally required juvenile-sentencing factors, we vacate the sentence and remand with directions to re-sentence and apply the required factors.