2020 Archive | Court of Appeals Court Opinions

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Robert B. Hanson, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (7 pages)

            A jury convicted Gregory Schuldt of intimidation with a gun and going armed with intent.  He appeals those verdicts, alleging his trial counsel failed to challenge the State’s proof that he acted with the specific intent necessary to commit those offenses.  OPINION HOLDS: Because strong evidence bolstered the inference that Schuldt had the specific intent to use the pistol without justification when he fired seven rounds against the bartender or other customers, defense counsel’s motion for acquittal would have been meritless.  Schuldt’s counsel had no duty to make a meritless motion.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Jeanie Vaudt, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Mullins, J.  (5 pages)

            Charae Miller appeals her convictions of two counts of forgery, one count of third-degree theft, and one count of identity theft.  She argues no direct evidence supports that she possessed or uttered.  OPINION HOLDS: Our review of the record shows the evidence was sufficient to convince a reasonable trier of fact beyond a reasonable doubt of Miller’s guilt.  As such, we affirm Miller’s criminal convictions. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Michael D. Huppert, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Ahlers, J., and Mahan, S.J.  Opinion by Mahan, S.J.  (8 pages)

            Michael Hilson appeals the district court’s dismissal of his application for postconviction relief, challenging the district court’s summary dismissal of his claim through a merits analysis of a newly discovered evidence claim rather than applying a ground-of-fact test to determine whether it was time barred.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm the denial of Hilson’s application for postconviction relief.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Monona County, Jeffrey A. Neary, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, VACATED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J. (12 pages)

            Marion Steven Goodon appeals his convictions for assault, first-degree burglary, stalking, domestic-abuse assault causing bodily injury, and going armed with intent.  He contends trial counsel was ineffective in failing to challenge inconsistent verdicts, the trial court erred in admitting hearsay testimony, and the court abused its discretion in assessing court costs and correctional fees.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the verdicts were not inconsistent and the court did not err in its evidentiary ruling, we affirm the convictions.  However, we vacate the restitution portion of the sentencing order and remand to the district court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Jefferson County, Crystal S. Cronk, Judge.  AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED.  Heard by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Bower, C.J.  (15 pages)

            Farm Bureau Property & Casualty Insurance Company appeals a district court judgment in favor of Unkrich Ag, Inc., Monty Unkrich, and Stacy Unkrich (collectively “the Unkriches”).  OPINION HOLDS: Substantial evidence supports a finding that equipment was damaged by a power surge at the Unkriches’ property but does not support a finding the electrical systems were damaged by a power surge.  We also modify the court’s award for loss-of-income damages to policy limits.  We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for a recalculation of damages.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, Heather L. Lauber and Lawrence P. McLellan, Judges.  CONVICTIONS AFFIRMED; SENTENCE VACATED AND REMANDED FOR RESENTENCING.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., Mullins, J., and Potterfield, S.J.  Opinion by Vaitheswaran, P.J. (9 pages)

            Christina Bennett appeals following her guilty plea to lottery ticket fraud, failure to appear, and driving without the owner’s consent, arguing (1) the prosecutor breached the plea agreement when he recommended incarceration rather than probation, and her attorney was ineffective in failing to challenge the breach; (2) the district court erred in ordering her to reimburse the sheriff for jail room-and-board expenses without determining her reasonable ability to pay those expenses; and (3) if the reimbursement order was a civil judgment rather than a criminal restitution order, the statute authorizing payment of the expenses without affording her the opportunity to be heard violated due process.  OPINION HOLDS: We affirm Bennett’s convictions.  We vacate her sentences and remand for resentencing before a different judge.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Black Hawk County, David P. Odekirk, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and Greer and Ahlers, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (13 pages)

            Keith Mayes appeals from his conviction for sexual abuse in the second degree.  Mayes maintains the district court abused its discretion in determining the rape-shield law prevented the introduction of evidence the complaining witness had previously been shown a pornographic video, challenges the sufficiency of the evidence to support his conviction, and argues the court abused its discretion in granting the State’s two requests for continuances.  OPINION HOLDS: The district court did not abuse its discretion in excluding evidence based on the rape-shield law or in granting the State’s two requests for continuances.  Additionally, because substantial evidence supports Mayes’s conviction for sexual abuse in the second degree, we affirm. 

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Linn County, Mitchell E. Turner, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Mullins, P.J., Schumacher, J., and Danilson, S.J.  Opinion by Danilson, S.J.  (4 pages)

            Vincent Ndikumana appeals the district court decision dismissing his applications for postconviction relief.  OPINION HOLDS: We find further development of the record was not necessary before the court determined whether the applications should be dismissed.  We conclude the district court did not err by dismissing Ndikumana’s applications for postconviction relief because they were not filed within the three-year time period prescribed by Iowa Code section 822.3 (2018).  We affirm the decision of the district court.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Buchanan County, Andrea J. Dryer, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (6 pages)

            Brian McConnelee challenges his prison sentence for seven crimes, including five counts of drug possession and two counts of operating while intoxicated, following our earlier remand.  On remand, the district court imposed a sentence of incarceration not to exceed seven years.  McConnelee appeals that new sentence, alleging his attorney should have asked for an updated presentence investigation report.  OPINION HOLDS: Because the record is not adequate to determine whether counsel made a tactical decision or if the absence of an updated report was prejudicial, we affirm the sentencing order but preserve the ineffective-assistance claim for potential postconviction-relief proceedings.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Pottawattamie County, Kathleen A. Kilnoski, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Bower, C.J., and May and Greer, JJ.  Opinion by Greer, J.  (8 pages)

            Eric Thompson appeals the dismissal of his third postconviction-relief (PCR) application.  On appeal, Thompson argues that the holding of Allison v. State, 914 N.W2d 866, 891 (Iowa 2018), should be expanded to find the three-year statute of limitations for filing a PCR is unconstitutional.  Even if constitutional, Thompson claims Allison affords him the guarantee of competent counsel and both his trial and appellate counsels’ ineffective assistance warranted an exception to the three-year time bar.  OPINION HOLDS: We conclude the three-year time bar is constitutional and the exception in Allison does not apply because Thompson did not file his PCR action “promptly.”  We affirm the dismissal of Thompson’s third PCR.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, Chris Foy, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Tabor, P.J., and Mullins and Schumacher, JJ.  Opinion by Tabor, P.J.  (4 pages)

            Dustin Snowbird appeals the denial of his application for postconviction relief (PCR).  He claims the PCR court should have found his trial and appellate counsel were ineffective for not challenging the felony-plea-taking court’s failure to mention his right to confront and cross examine the State’s witnesses.  OPINION HOLDS: Because we find no credibility in Snowbird’s claim that had his attorneys challenged the plea-taking court’s omission of information on confrontation (either at the plea stage or on appeal) he would have insisted on going to trial and risked a sentence of thirty-one years in prison instead of eleven.

            Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Dubuque County, Monica Zrinyi Wittig, Judge.  AFFIRMED.  Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Doyle and May, JJ.  Opinion by May, J.  Dissent by Vaitheswaran, P.J.  (6 pages)

            William Blakeman appeals from the summary dismissal of his application for postconviction relief (PCR).  OPINION HOLDS: Blakeman filed his PCR application after expiration of the three-year statute of limitations.  And he did not present a ground of fact or law that could not have been presented within three years after his conviction became final.  Blakeman also failed to preserve error on his equitable-tolling claim.  DISSENT ASSERTS: I believe the district court erred in dismissed the postconviction-relief application sua sponte without notice to Blakeman, despite the fact that an order filed less than three weeks earlier afforded his attorney forty-five days to file a brief and granted Blakeman the right to a hearing in the event a motion for summary judgment was filed.  I would reverse and remand for further proceedings.