Iowa Supreme Court Decisions 2017
Date: December 29, 2017
Docket Number: 16-1265
Justia Opinion Summary: The district court erred in ruling that the coguarantors of a loan were not entitled to contribution from other guarantors of an underlying debt because the funds used to make the payments on the debt were provided to…
Date: December 22, 2017
Docket Number: 15-0471
Justia Opinion Summary: West Central Cooperative was an agricultural cooperative owned by farmers. Westco Agronomy Co., L.L.C. was a wholly-owned subsidiary of West Central formed in 2005 for the purpose of streamlining delivery of agronomy…
Date: December 22, 2017
Docket Number: 16-0279
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was entitled to withdraw his guilty plea to assault causing bodily injury because the district court did not substantially comply with Iowa R. Crim. P. 2.8(2)(b)(2) during the guilty plea colloquy.…
Date: December 22, 2017
Docket Number: 16-1112
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Jason Weitzel appealed the judgment and sentences entered on his guilty pleas to domestic abuse assault, possession of methamphetamine, carrying weapons, and operating while intoxicated. Defendant challenged…
Date: December 15, 2017
Docket Number: 15-1344
Justia Opinion Summary: This case, which turned on the issue of when Plaintiff’s causes of action accrued, must be reversed and remanded for a new trial because genuine factual disputes over the statute of limitations should be resolved by the…
Date: December 15, 2017
Docket Number: 16-0304
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court dismissing Appellant’s amended application for postconviction relief. In his application for postconviction relief, Appellant alleged that, pursuant to Iowa…
Date: December 15, 2017
Docket Number: 16-1171
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the order of the district court finding that it did not have subject matter jurisdiction to hear Appellant’s challenge under Iowa Code 822.2. Appellant, a prisoner, filed a…
Date: December 15, 2017
Docket Number: 16-1980
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated Defendant’s second-degree robbery conviction and remanded for entry of a judgment of conviction for third-degree robbery and resentencing. On appeal, Defendant argued that the district court…
Date: December 1, 2017
Docket Number: 15-1560
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of second-degree murder. On appeal, Defendant claimed, among other things, that he was forced to use a peremptory strike to disqualify a…
Date: December 1, 2017
Docket Number: 16-1658
Justia Opinion Summary: The claims brought by the City of Eagle Grove alleging two properties owned by Cahalan Investments, LLC were abandoned and in an advanced state if disrepair and praying for a transfer of ownership from Cahalan to the…
Date: December 1, 2017
Docket Number: 17-1338
Date: November 17, 2017
Docket Number: 15-1543
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was not entitled to an automatic new trial after the district court, over Defendant’s objection, required a standby interpreter for his jury trial. Defendant requested, and was provided, an interpreter for…
Date: November 17, 2017
Docket Number: 16-0267
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant’s motion to suppress evidence obtained after an officer stopped his vehicle for being on a county access road after hours. The district…
Date: November 17, 2017
Docket Number: 16-1731
Justia Opinion Summary: Iowa may constitutionally deny an inheritance tax exemption for bequests to stepchildren when the marriage between parent and stepparent was dissolved before the stepparent’s death, while granting an exemption when the…
Date: November 17, 2017
Docket Number: 17-0920
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the juvenile court adjudicating Child as one in need of assistance. The juvenile court specifically found that Father was imminently likely to abuse or neglect Child and that…
Date: November 17, 2017
Docket Number: 17-1110
Date: October 27, 2017
Docket Number: 150741
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment to Defendants in this case brought by an independent contractor who sued for damages when he purchased a used tractor from a John…
Date: October 27, 2017
Docket Number: 150829
Justia Opinion Summary: A hearing conducted by the district court to determine if a juvenile offender should be sentenced to a minimum term of incarceration without eligibility for parole did not, in this case, comply with constitutional…
Date: October 27, 2017
Docket Number: 161136
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment on Plaintiff’s malicious prosecution claim on the ground that Defendants did not instigate Plaintiff’s criminal prosecution. Linda…
Date: October 27, 2017
Docket Number: 162087
Justia Opinion Summary: A “criminal case” as used in Iowa’s recently enacted expungement law, Iowa Code 901C.2, refers to a single numbered legal proceeding. In 2011, Defendant was charged with several aggravated misdemeanors in a single…
Date: October 20, 2017
Docket Number: 151630
Justia Opinion Summary: Under the circumstances of this case, Defendant was denied procedural protections for determining his status as an habitual offender at trial, and Defendant did not need to preserve error by filing a motion in arrest of…
Date: October 20, 2017
Docket Number: 152126
Justia Opinion Summary: In this will contest, the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the unsuccessful will contestant’s motion to amend the pleadings to conform to the proof at the close of his case. The contestant’s…
Date: October 20, 2017
Docket Number: 161290
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was required to register as a sex offender under Iowa Code 692A.103(1) upon his conviction of lascivious conduct with a minor and release on bond, notwithstanding this appeal. Defendant argued that he had no…
Date: October 13, 2017
Docket Number: 171023
Justia Opinion Summary: The Iowa Department of Corrections (IDOC) may not forfeit earned time an inmate accrued before his refusal of or removal from the Sex Offender Treatment Program (SOTP). For more than a decade, the IDOC policy stopped…
Date: September 15, 2017
Docket Number: 170193
Date: September 15, 2017
Docket Number: 170254
Date: September 15, 2017
Docket Number: 170420
Date: September 15, 2017
Docket Number: 170879
Date: June 30, 2017
Docket Number: 140830
Justia Opinion Summary: The administration of a warrantless breath test to Defendant violated Iowa Const. art. I, 8 because the State failed to prove that Defendant voluntarily consented to the warrantless breath test and failed to prove that…
Date: June 30, 2017
Docket Number: 150695
Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved claims brought against various state officials for damages related to public employment. Plaintiff was an Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commissioner. At issue in this interlocutory appeal were four counts…
Date: June 30, 2017
Docket Number: 151456
Justia Opinion Summary: The owner of a railroad right-of-way filed a petition for certiorari challenging a district court order finding it in contempt for violating a 1977 judgment imposing an injunction against a previous owner of the…
Date: June 30, 2017
Docket Number: 151578
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court declined Defendant’s invitation to overturn State v. Comried, 693 N.W. 2d 773 (Iowa 2005), which interpreted the operating while intoxicated (OWI) statute to ban driving a motor vehicle with any…
Date: June 30, 2017
Docket Number: 160061
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court abandoned the exclusive use of absolute disparity as a test for jury representativeness under the Sixth Amendment and permitted absolute disparity, comparative disparity, and standard deviation analyses…
Date: June 30, 2017
Docket Number: 160362
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court decided not to abandon the automobile exception to the search warrant requirement under Iowa Const. art. I, 8 despite technological advances enabling police to obtain warrants from the scene of a…
Date: June 23, 2017
Docket Number: 150574
Justia Opinion Summary: In this employment discrimination case, prejudicial errors in four jury instructions required a new trial. Plaintiff filed claims against her former employer, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation under the Iowa…
Date: June 23, 2017
Docket Number: 151515
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of two lottery-related offenses - fraudulently passing or redeeming, or attempting to pass or redeem, a lottery ticket; and influencing or attempting to influence the winning of a prize through…
Date: June 23, 2017
Docket Number: 151606
Justia Opinion Summary: The district court did not abuse its discretion in commencing a criminal trial on June 26 and then postponing the presentation of evidence to July 7, eight days after the June 29 expiration of the speedy trial deadline…
Date: June 23, 2017
Docket Number: 160807
Justia Opinion Summary: In this interlocutory review on a discovery dispute, the Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the district court ordering counsel for Defendant to provide notice to the State before serving any subpoenas duces tecum on…
Date: June 16, 2017
Docket Number: 141670
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to attempted murder and burglary in the second degree for a crime he committed when he was a juvenile. Following a resentencing hearing, the district court sentenced Defendant to a term of…
Date: June 16, 2017
Docket Number: 150175
Justia Opinion Summary: Iowa Const. art. I, section 17 does not categorically prohibit a district court form sentencing a juvenile offender to a minimum term of incarceration without the possibility of parole, provided that the court only…
Date: June 16, 2017
Docket Number: 150328
Justia Opinion Summary: The Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) lacked statutory authority to issue an emergency order that imposed a quarantine on land used as a whitetail deer-hunting preserve. Landowners challenged an emergency order…
Date: June 16, 2017
Docket Number: 152016
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff brought claims against her former attorney for legal malpractice. The district court submitted to the jury four claims (1) legal malpractice in Defendant’s representation of Plaintiff in her divorce, (2) legal…
Date: June 9, 2017
Docket Number: 150671
Justia Opinion Summary: Iowa’s forgery statute is preempted on its face by federal immigration law. Further, Iowa’s identity theft statute is field preempted as applied in this case, and enforcement of the identity theft statute is conflict…
Date: June 9, 2017
Docket Number: 150862
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that Defendant must be allowed to withdraw his plea of guilty to a criminal offense because Defendant would not have accepted the plea agreement if he had been provided the effective assistance of…
Date: June 9, 2017
Docket Number: 150871
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant did not have a right to counsel under Iowa Const. art. I, section 10 when he voluntarily participated in a noncustodial police interview under the supervision of an Iowa county attorney even though the State’s…
Date: June 9, 2017
Docket Number: 151131
Justia Opinion Summary: A civil service employee may enter into a valid last-chance agreement, which remains subject to principles of contract law, and the civil service commission need not sanction the agreement for it to be effective. A…
Date: June 2, 2017
Docket Number: 150974
Justia Opinion Summary: Parents of a child born with severe disabilities may bring a wrongful birth claim based on the physicians’ failure to inform them of prenatal test results showing a congenital defect that would have led them to terminate…
Date: June 2, 2017
Docket Number: 151191
Justia Opinion Summary: In this premises liability action, the district court entered judgment finding that a high school’s negligence was responsible for injuries sustained by a high school baseball player after a foul ball struck him while he…
Date: May 25, 2017
Docket Number: 140792
Justia Opinion Summary: The speedy indictment rule commences upon arrest only when the arrest is completed by making an initial appearance. Therefore, the speedy indictment rule does not require the dismissal of a trial information against a…
Date: May 25, 2017
Docket Number: 140793
Justia Opinion Summary: The speedy indictment rule is properly interpreted to commence upon arrest only when the arrest is completed by making an initial appearance. At issue in this case was whether Defendants’ rights were violated by the…
Date: May 25, 2017
Docket Number: 140812
Justia Opinion Summary: This case that arose out of the same facts and presented the same issues addressed in a companion case also decided today, State v. Williams, __ N.W.2d __ (Iowa 2017). At issue was whether Defendants’ rights were…
Date: May 25, 2017
Docket Number: 150235
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a juvenile, pleaded guilty to four counts of willful injury causing serious injury. Pursuant to the plea agreement, the district court sentenced Defendant to indeterminate sentences not to exceed ten years on…
Date: May 25, 2017
Docket Number: 150971
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed Defendant’s conviction for domestic abuse assault, third offense, and remanded this case for a new trial, holding that Defendant received ineffective assistance of counsel because his trial…
Date: May 25, 2017
Docket Number: 151464
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pled guilty to one count of third-degree sexual abuse as the result of a sex act that occurred involving Appellant, who was seventeen years old, and T.C., who was thirteen years old. On appeal, Appellant argued…
Date: May 25, 2017
Docket Number: 151807
Justia Opinion Summary: Iowa’s search warrants do not authorize anticipatory warrants, but where the federal government conducts a search pursuant to a valid federal search warrant for purposes of a federal investigation, the fact that such a…
Date: May 19, 2017
Docket Number: 151032
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, who was paralyzed in an accident during a work accident, filed a petition seeking a determination of permanent total disability (PTD) and also sought partial commutation of benefits in a lump sum. Defendant,…
Date: May 19, 2017
Docket Number: 151348
Justia Opinion Summary: Landlord brought this interlocutory appeal challenging a summary judgment in favor of Tenant and the district court’s order certifying a class of tenants. Tenant filed an action seeking a declaration that certain lease…
Date: May 19, 2017
Docket Number: 151350
Justia Opinion Summary: After their leases expired, three tenants, on behalf of themselves and other similarly situated residential tenants, brought suit against their landlord. The district court granted summary judgment for the tenants,…
Date: May 19, 2017
Docket Number: 161014
Justia Opinion Summary: A Dubuque civil rights ordinance exempts “any employer who regularly employs less than four individuals.” The former employee of Appellant, a landscaper whose hiring needs fluctuate seasonally, filed a complaint with the…
Date: May 12, 2017
Docket Number: 151942
Justia Opinion Summary: The district court did not abuse its discretion by certifying this case as a class action. Plaintiffs alleged that air pollution from a corn wet milling plant interfered with the use of their property. Plaintiffs filed…
Date: May 12, 2017
Docket Number: 152122
Justia Opinion Summary: Jeffrey Anderson challenged a district court order placing him in a transitional release program at the Civil Commitment Unit for Sexual Offenders (CCUSO) as a violation of his due process rights. After a jury…
Date: May 5, 2017
Docket Number: 140277
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his first-degree murder conviction entered after a retrial. The State prosecuted Defendant on the theory that Defendant aided and abetted Louis Woolheater in the murder of Lance Morningstar and was…
Date: May 5, 2017
Docket Number: 140969
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that Iowa’s theft-by-taking prohibition in Iowa Code 714.1(1) is limited to situations where a person obtains property without the consent or authority of another, and therefore, a defendant does…
Date: May 5, 2017
Docket Number: 152213
Justia Opinion Summary: On December 8, after a hearing, a judicial hospitalization referee entered an order finding M.W. seriously mentally impaired and ordered M.W. involuntarily hospitalized. M.W. appealed the denial of his motion to continue…
Date: April 28, 2017
Docket Number: 160380
Justia Opinion Summary: David Steinberg and Steven Steinberg, brothers and the sole beneficiaries of the Steinberg Family Living Trust, requested a declaration of how a Minnesota farm and an Iowa farm should be distributed. The Minnesota farm,…
Date: April 28, 2017
Docket Number: 161441
Date: April 21, 2017
Docket Number: 151248
Justia Opinion Summary: In 1986, the Iowa legislature enacted House File 2219 to provide for payment by healthcare service corporations for services performed by chiropractors. Following the Supreme Court’s decision in Mueller v. Wellmark,…
Date: April 21, 2017
Docket Number: 151830
Justia Opinion Summary: Deputy Dan Furlong prepared a warrant application to search a residence. The detective brought the application before a judicial officer and, without signing the application, orally swore to the trust of the application…
Date: April 21, 2017
Docket Number: 160364
Justia Opinion Summary: Several Iowa chiropractors brought this class-action lawsuit against Wellmark, Inc., Iowa’s largest health insurer, alleging that it conspired with competitors to fix prices, allocate markets, and engage in other…
Date: April 21, 2017
Docket Number: 161028
Justia Opinion Summary: Joseph Gantner died in 2015, survived by his wife, Rachel Gantner, and two daughters, Meredith and Paige Gantner. After Joseph’s will was admitted to probate, Rachel filed for an elective share of Joseph’s estate and…
Date: April 14, 2017
Docket Number: 141239
Justia Opinion Summary: Four defendants, including Kent Tyler and James Shorter, were charged with murder in connection with the death of Richard Daughenbaugh. Tyler was convicted of second-degree murder. In State v. Tyler, the Supreme Court…
Date: April 14, 2017
Docket Number: 141242
Justia Opinion Summary: Kent Tyler, Yarvon Russell, James Shorter, and Leprese Williams were charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Richard Daughenbaugh. Tyler was tried separately from the other three defendants. At…
Date: April 14, 2017
Docket Number: 141326
Justia Opinion Summary: William Cubbage was convicted of sexually violent offenses and was adjudicated a sexually violent predator. While in custody at the State’s civil commitment unit for sexual offenders (CCUSO), Cubbage was diagnosed with…
Date: April 14, 2017
Docket Number: 151585
Justia Opinion Summary: After a bench trial, Defendant was convicted of making a false statement on an application to acquire a weapon permit, in violation of Iowa Code 724.17. The court of appeals affirmed the conviction, concluding that the…
Date: April 7, 2017
Docket Number: 150308
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with robbery in the second degree. After a jury trial, Defendant was found guilty. The State sought a habitual offender sentencing enhancement, but the district court did not inform Defendant of…
Date: April 7, 2017
Docket Number: 151081
Date: April 7, 2017
Docket Number: 160649
Justia Opinion Summary: This legal malpractice case arose from work performed by the Dunakey & Klatt law firm for Michael Cox II. Cox later died. Thereafter, Michael Cox’s parents (Plaintiffs) filed this action for legal malpractice against…
Date: April 7, 2017
Docket Number: 161009
Justia Opinion Summary: Dennis Willard was seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident. Defendant was treated at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC). Willard claimed that while undergoing an abdominal CT scan, UIHC was…
Date: March 31, 2017
Docket Number: 151813
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Bryan Jones secretly recorded Brenda Papillon’s conversations with other people outside his presence. Papillon sued Jones under the Interception of Communications Act, Iowa Code chapter 808B, which prohibits…
Date: March 24, 2017
Docket Number: 150296
Justia Opinion Summary: Myria Holdings, Inc., a Delaware corporation with its primary place of business in Texas, holds an ownership interest in two subsidiaries doing business in Iowa. The Iowa Department of Revenue issued a final order…
Date: March 10, 2017
Docket Number: 150545
Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant pleaded guilty to failure to appear for sentencing. Appellant filed a postconviction relief action asserting that his counsel provided ineffective assistance. The district court denied relief. Appellant…
Date: March 10, 2017
Docket Number: 150683
Justia Opinion Summary: For twenty-four years, Tenants lived on property owned by Owners. Tenants kept one horse on the property. Owners later served Tenants with a thirty-day notice seeking to terminate Tenants’ tenancy. Owners followed up…
Date: March 10, 2017
Docket Number: 151540
Justia Opinion Summary: The City of Waterloo entered into a contract to sell certain property to a development company and also entered into a development agreement with the development company. Taxpaying residents of the City filed a petition…
Date: March 10, 2017
Docket Number: 161146
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013, the citizens of Linn County approved a referendum to permit gambling games in the county. Thereafter, a county organization applied to the Iowa Racing and Gaming Commission for a license to operate a new…
Date: March 10, 2017
Docket Number: 161323
Justia Opinion Summary: Patrick Alan Ney and John Glenn Ney were brothers with an acrimonious relationship. Patrick filed a petition for injunctive relief seeking a temporary injunction against John. The parties entered into a stipulation and…
Date: March 10, 2017
Docket Number: 161988
Date: March 3, 2017
Docket Number: 150995
Justia Opinion Summary: Liberty Bank made five loans to the owner of real property (Property). Liberty Bank and five other banks entered into participation agreements related to the loan. Iowa Great Lakes Holding later defaulted on the loan,…
Date: March 3, 2017
Docket Number: 160661
Justia Opinion Summary: DuTrac Community Credit Union owned a parcel of real estate in a commercial development. Kwik Trip, Inc. sought to purchase the property. During due diligence, Kwik Trip discovered that the property was subject to a…
Date: March 3, 2017
Docket Number: 160906
Justia Opinion Summary: The Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) condemned a parcel of Landowner’s property to complete the construction of a highway. The compensation commission awarded Landowner $11,100 for the taking. Landowner filed a…
Date: February 24, 2017
Docket Number: 150153
Justia Opinion Summary: Mother, who was sixty-nine years old, filed a petition for relief from elder abuse, naming her son John Wilkinson as the defendant. After a hearing, the district court entered a final protective order against Wilkinson,…
Date: February 24, 2017
Docket Number: 150940
Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury trial, Defendant was convicted of going armed with intent and willful injury causing bodily injury. Defendant appealed, arguing that defense counsel provided ineffective assistance by failing to challenge…
Date: February 24, 2017
Docket Number: 160582
Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, Gary Pettit pled guilty to third-degree sexual abuse and third-degree kidnapping, Pettit was incarcerated at the Anamosa State Penitentiary. In 2015, the Iowa Department of Corrections (IDOC) informed Pettit…
Date: February 17, 2017
Docket Number: 141174
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. Defendant was fifteen years old at the time of the offense. The district court sentenced Defendant to an indeterminate term of incarceration and ordered Defendant to pay…
Date: February 17, 2017
Docket Number: 141789
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pleaded guilty to attempted murder. Defendant was sixteen years old at the time of the offense. Defendant was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison, including a mandatory minimum term of incarceration.…
Date: February 17, 2017
Docket Number: 151922
Justia Opinion Summary: In this ongoing civil litigation, the Supreme Court decided two prior appeals, referred to as Mueller I and Mueller II. After procedendo issued in Mueller II, Plaintiffs were successful in persuading the district court…
Date: February 17, 2017
Docket Number: 161266
Date: February 10, 2017
Docket Number: 150752
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with driving while barred. Defendant filed a motion to suppress, which the district court denied. Defendant was subsequently convicted. Defendant appealed the denial of his motion to suppress,…
Date: February 10, 2017
Docket Number: 151576
Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his convictions and sentences following two bench trials, challenging the underlying searches in each of the two cases. Specifically, Defendant argued that the district court erred in denying his…
Date: February 10, 2017
Docket Number: 161911
Date: February 3, 2017
Docket Number: 151379
Justia Opinion Summary: The district court granted a request for entry of a charging order against a personal guarantor and judgment debtor’s transferable interest in an LLC. The judgment debtor and intervenor filed a motion to quash alleging…
Date: January 27, 2017
Docket Number: 160076
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff in this case was a municipal waterworks that provides drinking water to central Iowans. Plaintiff sued Defendants - upstream drainage districts and their trustees - in federal court for money damages and other…
Date: January 27, 2017
Docket Number: 161228
Date: January 27, 2017
Docket Number: 161704
Date: January 20, 2017
Docket Number: 151255
Justia Opinion Summary: A special restitution law provides that the court may order restitution paid to any public agency for the costs of the “emergency response” resulting from the actions constituting a violation of the operating while…
Date: January 20, 2017
Docket Number: 152150
Justia Opinion Summary: A special restitution law provides that the court may order restitution paid to any public agency for the costs of the “emergency response” resulting from the actions constituting a violation of the operating while…
Date: January 20, 2017
Docket Number: 152151
Justia Opinion Summary: A special restitution law provides that the court may order restitution paid to any public agency for the costs of the “emergency response” resulting from the actions constituting a violation of the operating while…
Date: January 13, 2017
Docket Number: 150203
Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs’ attorney filed two board claim forms with a state appeals board on behalf of Plaintiffs, signing their names and his own. The attorney did not attach any document showing he had power of attorney. The board…
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