Iowa Supreme Court Decisions 2019
Date: December 20, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0483
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of driving while intoxicated, holding that Defendant was not seized for purposes of the…
Date: December 20, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0737
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's sentence imposed in connection with his guilty plea to second-degree murder, holding that where Defendant received an individualized sentencing hearing that addressed the…
Date: December 13, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1600
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the order of the district court denying Defendants' motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict on Plaintiff's claim for the common law tort of wrongful discharge in violation of public…
Date: December 13, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1877
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated Defendant's sentence and remanded this case for resentencing, holding that where the sentencing court indicated that it lacked "wiggle room" regarding whether to reduce Defendant's sentence, the…
Date: December 13, 2019
Docket Number: 19-0499
Date: December 6, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1997
Justia Opinion Summary: In this postconviction relief case, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing Appellant's claim without an evidentiary hearing that he was actually innocent of robbery in the first degree…
Date: December 6, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1119
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction for carrying a firearm on the grounds of a school, holding that a school district-owned athletic complex that is not contiguous to a classroom building does not qualify…
Date: December 6, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1292
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of willful injury resulting in serious injury, in violation of Iowa Code 708.4(1), holding…
Date: November 22, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0457
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction for sexual abuse in the second degree and lascivious acts with a child, holding that there was no error in the trial…
Date: November 22, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0677
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and vacated in part the decision of the court of appeals reversing Defendant's conviction and remanding the case for a new trial, holding that trial counsel was not ineffective for…
Date: November 15, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0690
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the order of the district court approving a sheriff's claim for reimbursement of jail room and board for Defendant's pretrial detention, holding…
Date: November 15, 2019
Docket Number: 18-2096
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court affirming the decision of the O'Brien County Board of Supervisors determining that two newspapers under common ownership and published in the same city could…
Date: November 8, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0566
Justia Opinion Summary: In this personal injury action, the Supreme Court affirmed the ruling of the district court granting a new trial on Plaintiff's claims against the driver of a motorcycle upon which Plaintiff was riding when the…
Date: November 8, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1353
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's motion to suppress all evidence stemming from a stop of his vehicle, holding that the district court erred in finding that the deputy…
Date: November 8, 2019
Docket Number: 19-0155
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court declining to modify a restriction on alienability of paintings painted by artist Grant Wood and donated in 1976 to Coe College in Cedar Rapids, holding that…
Date: October 25, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1971
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing Plaintiff's medical malpractice claims against Defendants, holding that there was no reversible error in the proceedings below. Plaintiff, through…
Date: October 25, 2019
Docket Number: 19-1032
Date: October 18, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0955
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of a class C felony drug offense and prison sentence, holding that immigration status per se is not an appropriate sentencing consideration but that immigration status…
Date: October 18, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1427
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the order of the district court entering an injunction directing Defendants to place on the ballot a measure asking voters whether they approved the demolition of…
Date: October 11, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1075
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the district court's judgment convicting Defendant of first-degree murder, holding that Defendant's Sixth Amendment rights of confrontation or compulsory process were not violated when the…
Date: October 11, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0825
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally remanded this case involving Defendant's conviction for assault with attempt to commit sexual abuse; pattern, practice, or scheme to engage in sexual exploitation by a counselor or…
Date: September 27, 2019
Docket Number: 19-0731
Date: September 13, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0839
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated Defendant's sentence in connection with her Alford plea to four counts of child endangerment entered pursuant to a plea agreement, holding that the State breached the plea agreement with…
Date: September 13, 2019
Docket Number: 19-0177
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the magistrate's dismissal of three pending misdemeanor charges against Defendant based on the legal proposition that Iowa courts lack jurisdiction over crimes committed on the Meskwaki…
Date: September 13, 2019
Docket Number: 19-0360
Date: September 6, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1822
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and vacated in part the decision of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction and sentence for child endangerment resulting in serious injury, holding that the part of the…
Date: September 6, 2019
Docket Number: 19-0661
Date: September 6, 2019
Docket Number: 19-0662
Date: September 6, 2019
Docket Number: 19-0712
Date: June 28, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0367
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's motion to suppress all evidence obtained after a stop of his vehicle, holding that the subjective motivations of an individual officer for…
Date: June 28, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1798
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's motion to suppress evidence discovered by law enforcement after a stop of Defendant's automobile that resulted in her arrest for driving…
Date: June 28, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0477
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court ruling in favor of the Iowa Parole Board (Board) as to Petitioner's action challenging the manner in which the Board considers whether persons convicted of…
Date: June 28, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0567
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the order of the district court granting summary judgment to Defendants on all claims in this employment case, holding (1) Plaintiff's direct civil action under…
Date: June 28, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1037
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of a "senior adult congregate living facility" on Plaintiff's complaint alleging that the facility would not return her…
Date: June 28, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1280
Justia Opinion Summary: In this civil action filed against the police investigator, the prosecutors, and the municipalities that investigated and prosecuted a criminal case in which Plaintiff was eventually acquitted the Supreme Court affirmed…
Date: June 21, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0316
Justia Opinion Summary: In this intrafamily dispute regarding farmland the Supreme Court affirmed the rulings of the district court denying substitute petitioners' petition for relief from elder abuse specifically seeking relief for the loss…
Date: June 14, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0007
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court summary judgment for the State on Appellant's application for postconviction relief (PCR) after denying Appellant's request to appoint an expert, holding that…
Date: June 14, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1825
Justia Opinion Summary: In this wrongful death action the Supreme Court affirmed the order of the district court entering judgment for Defendant, holding that Plaintiffs did not preserve any issues for appellate review. A jury determined that…
Date: June 14, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0509
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the district court affirming the Carroll County Board of Adjustment's denial of Appellants' application for a variance from Carroll County Airport Zoning Ordinance height…
Date: June 14, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1050
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the district court's judgment upholding the revocation of a Driver's license, holding that this Court declines to overrule precedent and apply the exclusionary rule to driver's license…
Date: June 14, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1856
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court answered questions certified to it by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Iowa, holding, among other things, that a municipality can assert qualified immunity to a claim for…
Date: June 7, 2019
Docket Number: 16-1525
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals affirming in part and reversed in part the judgment and sentence of the district court convicting Defendant of operating while intoxicated (OWI) second…
Date: June 7, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0085
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the decision of the court of appeals reversing Defendant's conviction of second-degree murder, holding that Defendant was not entitled to a new trial on any of his allegations of error. After…
Date: June 7, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1892
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case brought by a former employee alleging discrimination and retaliation, the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court entering judgment on a jury verdict for Plaintiff, awarding him back pay,…
Date: May 31, 2019
Docket Number: 15-1766
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and vacated in part the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court modifying a judgment for civil conspiracy following a jury trial, holding that the…
Date: May 31, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0423
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court denying Petitioners' petitions for judicial review of a decision of the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) approving constructing of an underground crude oil pipeline…
Date: May 31, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0807
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's application for postconviction relief, holding that a factual basis did not exist for the element of confinement to support Defendant's…
Date: May 24, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1453
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally affirmed Defendant's conviction of two counts of first-degree murder while remanding the case for further proceedings consistent with State v. Lilly, __ N.W.2d __ (Iowa 2019), also decided…
Date: May 24, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1901
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally affirmed Defendant's conviction for aiding and abetting a bank robbery and remanded for further consideration of Defendant's claim that his jury was not drawn from a fair cross section of…
Date: May 24, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1989
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally affirmed Defendant's conviction and sentence for first-degree murder but remanded for further proceedings consistent with decisions it also filed today in State v. Lilly, __ N.W.2d __…
Date: May 24, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0047
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the district court holding that a copy of a petition for judicial review sent by email to opposing counsel failed to comply with Iowa Code 17A.19(2), which imposes a…
Date: May 17, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1834
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the district court's summary judgment in favor of Defendants on Plaintiffs' claim that the 2017 amendments to Iowa Code chapter 20, the Public Employment Relations Act (PERA), violate the equal…
Date: May 17, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1841
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Defendants on Plaintiffs' claim that the 2017 amendments to Iowa Code chapter 20, the Public Employment Relations Act (PERA), violate…
Date: May 17, 2019
Docket Number: 17-2093
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the district court's judgment against the State enforcing a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the State and a public employee union, holding that the district court had subject…
Date: May 17, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0018
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment dismissing this action filed by a public employee union seeking to enforce a collective bargaining agreement entered into with the Iowa Board of…
Date: May 17, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0505
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court interpreting the 2017 amendments to Iowa Code chapter 20, the Public Employment Relations Act, limiting the mandatory subjects of collective bargaining and…
Date: May 10, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1458
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the decision of the court of appeals declining to give preemptive effect to a no-hazard determination by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and affirmed as modified the judgment of the…
Date: May 10, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1227
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court answered a certified question of Iowa law by holding that, under Iowa law, a common law cause of action for bad faith failure to pay workers' compensation benefits is not available against a third-party…
Date: May 10, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1366
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the ruling of the district court denying Jane Doe's motion to expunge her record, holding that the condition in Iowa Code 901C.2, the expungement statute, that an individual pay all…
Date: May 10, 2019
Docket Number: 18-2191
Date: May 3, 2019
Docket Number: 17-2068
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court granting an employer's workers' compensation insurance carrier's motion to dismiss Plaintiffs' common law tort claim and ruling that Iowa Code 517.5 was…
Date: May 3, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1184
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case concerning an Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) legal standard for when a series of wind turbines constitute an "electric power generating plant or combination of plants at a single site" within the meaning of Iowa…
Date: May 3, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1431
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the district court's judgment granting summary judgment and dismissing Plaintiffs' claims challenging the decisions of a county board of supervisors approving a wind energy ordinance and a…
Date: May 3, 2019
Docket Number: 18-2219
Date: May 3, 2019
Docket Number: 19-0249
Date: April 26, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1087
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and vacated in part the decision of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction and the district court order requiring Defendant to pay restitution for court costs and…
Date: April 26, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1640
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and vacated in part the decision of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction and vacating the part of Defendant's sentence dealing with restitution, holding that there was…
Date: April 26, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1697
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction but vacated that part of the sentencing order regarding restitution and remanded the case to the district court to impose restitution consistent with State v. Albright,…
Date: April 26, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1727
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the part of the district court's judgment sentencing Defendant to five years' imprisonment but vacated the restitution part of his sentence, holding that remand was required for the district…
Date: April 26, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1806
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction but vacated the portion of Defendant's sentence regarding restitution, holding that remand was required because the district court did not have the benefit of the…
Date: April 26, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1838
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's sentencing procedure but vacated the portion of Defendant's sentence regarding restitution, holding that remand was necessary for the district court to impose restitution consistent…
Date: April 26, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0305
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction, holding that the district court did not err in denying Defendant's motion to suppress the results of a chemical breath test where the officer administering the test…
Date: April 26, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0351
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated in part Defendant's sentence, holding that because the district court did not have the benefit of the procedures outlined in State v. Albright, __ N.W.2d __ (Iowa 2019), when it entered its…
Date: April 26, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1201
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court dissolving an injunction that had precluded a sale after ruling that the City of Waterloo had complied with Iowa Code 306.23 in transferring land from an…
Date: April 19, 2019
Docket Number: 18-2113
Date: April 12, 2019
Docket Number: 16-1544
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court sustained Defendant's petition for writ of certiorari filed after the district court summarily dismissed Defendant's motion to correct an illegal sentence and denied appointment of counsel, holding that…
Date: April 12, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1169
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the ruling of the district court holding that mechanic's liens arising from the provision of materials and labor to a lessee did not attach to the property of the lessor under the circumstances…
Date: April 12, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0594
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the restitution portion of Defendant's sentence and affirmed the remainder of the sentence, holding that the district court erred in ordering restitution without first conducting the applicable…
Date: April 12, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0599
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment for a judgment creditor and dismissed the petition filed by the judgment debtor and his wife to vacate a charging order to execute…
Date: April 5, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1732
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the evidentiary ruling of the district court and grant of summary judgment in favor of Medical School on Student's complaint that Medical School failed to accommodate her mental disability…
Date: April 5, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1964
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the decision of the court of appeals affirming the district court's denial of Defendant's motion for summary judgment, reversed the decision of the district court, and remanded to the district…
Date: April 5, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0124
Justia Opinion Summary: In this tort action, the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court compelling Defendants to produce police investigative reports without a protective order preventing disclosure to the public, holding…
Date: April 5, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1045
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court holding that sex offender registration requirements are not punitive and convicting Defendant of failing to report his Internet identifier for a Facebook…
Date: March 29, 2019
Docket Number: 16-1722
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment and sentence of the district court and remanded for resentencing on restitution for court-appointed attorney fees, holding that the amount of…
Date: March 29, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0270
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment and sentence of conviction of the crime of theft in the second degree, holding that the district court imposed an illegal sentence by requiring…
Date: March 29, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0622
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court convicting and sentencing Defendant for driving while license barred, possession of marijuana, possession with…
Date: March 22, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1286
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions for willful injury causing bodily injury and kidnapping in the first degree but vacated the restitution portion of the sentencing order and remanded the case to the…
Date: March 22, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0319
Date: March 22, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0437
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions but vacated certain portions of Defendant’s sentences, holding that the imposition of a surcharge violated the Ex Post Facto Clauses of the state and federal…
Date: March 22, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0678
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the portion of Defendant’s sentence regarding restitution but affirmed the district court’s decisions revoking Defendant’s deferred judgment and probation and sentencing him to serve a maximum…
Date: March 8, 2019
Docket Number: 16-2177
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court finding Defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of operating while intoxicated (OWI) in violation of Iowa Code 321J.2, holding that an initial laboratory…
Date: March 8, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1149
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals reversing the decision of the district court annulling a writ of certiorari challenging the decision of the City of Ames’s Zoning Board of Adjustment (ZBA)…
Date: March 8, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0129
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court entering judgment against a commercial general liability (CGL) insurer on a homeowners’ insurer’s lawsuit seeking reimbursement for the amount it paid to…
Date: March 8, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0184
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction of second-degree burglary and reversed the habitual offender judgment and Defendant’s sentence, holding that Defendant’s stipulation to being a habitual offender was not…
Date: March 8, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1158
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court concluding that challenged portions of Iowa Administrative Code rule 441-78.1(4) violate the Iowa Civil Rights Act (ICRA) and determining that the Iowa…
Date: March 1, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0784
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the ruling of the district court on the question on whether the crimes of involuntary manslaughter by a public offense and delivery of a controlled substance merge, holding that the district…
Date: March 1, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1934
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the ruling of the district court denying Plaintiff’s motion for a new trial after the jury returned a unanimous verdict finding that Defendant was…
Date: March 1, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1375
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the final order of the juvenile court terminating Mother’s parental rights to her three children, entered twenty months after the evidentiary hearing on the issue, holding that the juvenile…
Date: February 22, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1466
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court dismissing Plaintiff’s two-count petition, holding that the district court erred in holding that a seller of auction services of certain machinery is entitled…
Date: February 15, 2019
Docket Number: 16-1534
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court vacating an award of fees incurred during agency proceedings under a fee-shifting provision in Division II of the Davenport Civil Rights Ordinance for a…
Date: February 15, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1229
Date: February 8, 2019
Docket Number: 18-0464
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part the judgment of the district court in this challenge to the decision of the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) denying a dentist’s requests for a…
Date: February 1, 2019
Docket Number: 16-1972
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the district court granting summary judgment to the insurer in this coverage dispute, holding that an electrical-currents exclusion in the policy applied to the loss in this…
Date: January 25, 2019
Docket Number: 16-1031
Justia Opinion Summary: Upon rehearing in this case involving issues related to an automated traffic enforcement (ATE) system, the Supreme Court concluded that the district court properly granted summary judgment in favor of Defendants, the…
Date: January 25, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0488
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the decision of the court of appeals and reversed the judgment of the district court affirming the determination of the Department of Public Safety (DPS) that Appellant was required to register…
Date: January 25, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1719
Date: January 25, 2019
Docket Number: 18-1830
Date: January 18, 2019
Docket Number: 17-0637
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction of operating while intoxicated (OUI), second offense, holding that Defendant’s rights under Iowa Code 804.20 were not violated when a law enforcement officer denied…
Date: January 18, 2019
Docket Number: 17-1419
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed this appeal, holding that Appellant failed to file a timely notice of appeal, which left the Court without subject matter jurisdiction to hear the appeal. This appeal concerned a dispute over…
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