Iowa Supreme Court Decisions 2020
Date: December 31, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1278
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court provided answers to certified questions of law in a federal case brought against the State and a Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officer who shot and killed Plaintiff's son during an armed…
Date: December 23, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1966
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the district court's judgment dismissing this case on the pleadings, except for slander of title, holding that slander of title was adequately alleged. Debtor brought this case against Bank,…
Date: December 23, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1697
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's motion for a new trial, holding that the district court erred in applying too strict a standard in determining whether Defendant was…
Date: December 23, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1814
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the restitution order of the district court in this criminal matter, holding that this Court had jurisdiction to review the restitution order and that Defendant did not meet his burden to…
Date: December 18, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1215
Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal from a court of appeals decision affirming Defendant's resentencing without eliminating the jail fees relating to the count on which Defendant was acquitted on appeal, the Supreme Court reversed the…
Date: December 18, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0925
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming one of Defendant's two convictions of sexual abuse in the third degree based on an aiding-and-abetting theory, holding that the contested count…
Date: December 18, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0833
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the juvenile court's dismissal of the State's petition to adjudicate a child, N.C., in need of assistance pursuant to Iowa Code 232.2(6)(b), (d),…
Date: December 18, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0854
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the decision of the court of appeals and affirmed the order of the juvenile court terminating Father's parental rights, holding that the State proved the grounds for termination of Father's…
Date: December 11, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0733
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of second-degree murder, holding that the exclusion of evidence regarding the victim's mental health records and the limitation of…
Date: December 11, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0454
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions for assault with a dangerous weapon and third degree criminal mischief, holding that Iowa R. Evid. 5.701 and 5.702 did not require certain testimony concerning…
Date: November 20, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0551
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions and sentences for eluding while speeding and several unrelated offenses, holding that trial counsel was not ineffective for failing to challenge Defendant's eluding…
Date: November 20, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0849
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction and sentence for operating while intoxicated first offense, holding that a peace officer does not violate a duty under Iowa Code 321J.11(2) by agreeing to a detainee's…
Date: November 20, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0187
Date: November 13, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0214
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of first-degree murder, holding that a new trial was required because the marshaling instruction for that charge failed to…
Date: November 13, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0844
Date: November 6, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1433
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the order of the district court revoking Defendant's deferred judgment, holding that the district court failed to include sufficient factual findings to support revocation. Defendant pled…
Date: November 6, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1572
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the ruling of the district court entering judgment for Defendant, holding that Plaintiff's present challenge to the judgment was already conclusively resolved in his prior appeal. While the…
Date: October 23, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1545
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the ruling of the district court dismissing an employee's gross negligence claim against a coemployee, holding that settlement documents submitted to and approved by the workers' compensation…
Date: October 23, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1777
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court denying Defendant's motion for new trial based on a claim of newly discovered evidence, holding that the…
Date: October 23, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0892
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of homicide by intoxicated operation of a vehicle, holding that the district court did not err by denying his requested instruction for homicide by reckless driving as a…
Date: October 21, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1249
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the district court denying Plaintiffs' temporary injunction request seeking to invalidate the legislature's statute providing additional election safeguards, holding that the…
Date: October 16, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0109
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions for misdemeanor possession of of marijuana and felony eluding with marijuana, holding that the convictions do not merge. After convicting Defendant the district court…
Date: October 14, 2020
Docket Number: 20-1281
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the orders of the district court staying an emergency election directive issued by the Secretary of State concerning the 2020 general election, holding that the district court abused its…
Date: October 9, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0005
Date: September 11, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0472
Date: September 4, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0298
Date: September 4, 2020
Docket Number: 20-0582
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the order of the juvenile court terminating Father's parental rights to his child, holding that Father was not unfairly penalized for working too…
Date: June 30, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2173
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case brought by a tenant against her landlord and a neighboring tenant alleging breach of the lease's no-pets provision the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court dismissing the case, holding…
Date: June 30, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2201
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court dismissing Plaintiff's claims for violations of a municipal civil rights ordinance and the Iowa Civil Rights Act (ICRA) and breach of contract, holding that…
Date: June 19, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1504
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the court of appeals reversing the judgment of the district court ordering Defendant to register as a sex offender after he entered an Alford plea to child endangerment, holding…
Date: June 19, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0261
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court affirming the determination of the Iowa Department of Revenue that capital gains Taxpayer earned from the sale of farmland she inherited from her father and…
Date: June 19, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1438
Date: June 12, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0261
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court ruling that Plaintiffs' claim seeking contract damages was barred by the limitations period set forth in Iowa Code 614.17A, holding that the district court…
Date: June 12, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1142
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of violating Iowa Code 724.4C, which criminalizes carrying a dangerous weapon while intoxicated, holding that the jury instructions were…
Date: June 12, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1416
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment in favor of Plaintiff in this will contest, holding that a claim alleging that the decedent's will resulted from tortious interference by a beneficiary must be joined with a timely…
Date: June 12, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0484
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment to the City of Burlington and dismissing Plaintiffs' claim that the City was negligent by giving a sewer box the appearance that it…
Date: June 5, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0081
Justia Opinion Summary: In this criminal case arising from Appellant's act of writing checks without authorization from a bank account that was not hers the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court denying Appellant's motion…
Date: June 5, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1550
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the district court holding that a commercial general liability (CGL) policy and a related excess liability declaration do not cover claims brought…
Date: June 5, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0022
Justia Opinion Summary: In this criminal action, the Supreme Court vacated the restitution awarded and clarified State v. Albright, 925 N.W.2d 144 (Iowa 2019), holding that defendants may seek appellate review of interim restitution orders in a…
Date: June 5, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0451
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the order of restitution in this criminal case for the reasons explained today in State v. Davis, __ N.W.2d __ (Iowa 2020), concluding that interim orders on components of restitution requiring…
Date: June 5, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1306
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court granting Defendant's motion for summary judgment pursuant to the continuing storm doctrine in this negligence action, holding that because a factual dispute…
Date: May 29, 2020
Docket Number: 17-1650
Date: May 29, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0189
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and vacated in part the court of appeals' decision and affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the district court, holding that a child-care provider whose provider…
Date: May 29, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1329
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the district court reversing the decision of the Iowa Department of Human Services (DHS) that a child-care provider must pay back benefits the…
Date: May 29, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1139
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's sentence for theft after Defendant pleaded guilty, holding that "good cause" under the newly amended Iowa Code 814.6 means a "legally sufficient reason," and the good cause…
Date: May 29, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1425
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's sentence for indecent contact with a child, holding that Defendant satisfied the good-cause requirement to challenge his sentence as an abuse of discretion but that, on the merits,…
Date: May 22, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1763
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the district court ordering restitution in the amount of $2740.95 based upon testimony and exhibits submitted by the Crime Victim Compensation Program (CVCP), holding that the…
Date: May 22, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2076
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that judgment creditors cannot levy on their judgment debtor, obtain the judgment debtor's chose in action for legal malpractice against the attorney representing the judgment debtor in the…
Date: May 22, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1402
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court granted Jane Doe's petition for writ of certiorari, sustained the writ, and vacated the order of the district court denying Doe's application to expunge her criminal record as to a particular case…
Date: May 22, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1407
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court granted John Doe's petition for writ of certiorari, sustained the writ, and vacated the order of the district court denying Doe's application to expunge his criminal record as to a particular case…
Date: May 22, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1413
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court granted Jane Doe's petition for writ of certiorari, sustained the writ, and vacated the order of the district court denying Doe's application to expunge her criminal record as to three separate cases…
Date: May 22, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1934
Date: May 15, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0369
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the order of the district court denying Defendant's motion to dismiss four additional arson charges as breach of his plea agreement with the State as to second-degree arson, holding that the…
Date: May 15, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1862
Date: May 8, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1008
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court upheld the district court's order directing Plaintiff and/or his attorney to pay reasonable expenses associated with one of the defendant's attendance at a court-ordered pretrial settlement conference…
Date: May 1, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1051
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the district court denying Claimant's petition for judicial review challenging the decision of the workers' compensation commissioner concluding that Claimant, who was receiving…
Date: May 1, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1099
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction for assault on a peace officer with a dangerous weapon, a felony, and several misdemeanors, holding that Defendant did not receive ineffective assistance of…
Date: May 1, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1910
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the district court concluding that Husband, who had a recent income history less than that of Wife, was not entitled to alimony under the facts and circumstances developed at…
Date: May 1, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0094
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court dismissing for lack of standing Attorney's petition for judicial review of the decision of the Iowa Ethics and…
Date: May 1, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0608
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court dismissing Appellant's petition for judicial review, holding that timely faxing a petition for judicial review to the opposing party's counsel, where the…
Date: April 24, 2020
Docket Number: 17-1715
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated in part and affirmed in part the decision of the court of appeals declining relief on Defendant's claims that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance for failing to object to the crime…
Date: April 24, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0002
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of first-degree murder after declining Defendant's invitation to change constitutional precedent to further limit the admissibility of eyewitness identifications…
Date: April 17, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1298
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of murder in the second degree, holding that Defendant's Fifth Amendment rights were invaded when the trial judge instructed the jury that Defendant was required to…
Date: April 17, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1302
Justia Opinion Summary: In this dispute between a secured lender (Bank) and a grain elevator (Elevator) the Supreme Court reversed in part the district court's judgment in favor of the Bank, holding that the district court erred by applying the…
Date: April 10, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0564
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of voluntary manslaughter and assault with intent to cause serious injury, holding that Defendant was not entitled to a pretrial evidentiary hearing and that Defendants…
Date: April 3, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0335
Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal from the district court's denial of a motion to dismiss and compel arbitration the Supreme Court held that the court-appointed liquidator of a now-insolvent health insurer pursuing common law tort claims…
Date: April 3, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1999
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction of child endangerment, holding that the evidence was sufficient to support Defendant's conviction. During trial, the State…
Date: April 3, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0939
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated Defendant's guilty plea to possessing a tool with the intent to use it in the unlawful removal of a theft detection device under Iowa Code 714.7B(3), holding that there was no factual basis to…
Date: March 27, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0657
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the foreclosure decree entered by the district court giving priority under a future-advances clause to the full amount of credit extended by the first lienholder rather than the maximum amount…
Date: March 27, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0821
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court finding that Plaintiffs had a "losing cause of action," concluding that Plaintiffs' claims against Defendants were frivolous, and granting Defendants' motion…
Date: March 20, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1092
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the ruling of the district court certifying a class action of employees with pending workers' compensation claims, holding that the district court abused its discretion by certifying this case…
Date: March 20, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2183
Justia Opinion Summary: In this construction law case, the Supreme Court reversed the order of the circuit court granting summary judgment in favor of Appellee, holding that Appellee was not entitled to claim preclusion or issue preclusion even…
Date: March 12, 2020
Docket Number: 17-0908
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court granting summary judgment for Defendants on Plaintiffs' medical malpractice claims, holding that Plaintiffs failed to set forth specific facts showing a prima…
Date: March 12, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1892
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court dismissed Appellant's appeal from an order of the district court directing Appellant to pay room and board reimbursement for the seventy-eight days Appellant spent in the Mills County jail, holding that…
Date: March 12, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1985
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court annulled the writ of certiorari sought by Defendant after the district court denied his motion to correct an illegal sentence, holding that Iowa Code 124.413 and 901.12 serve to reduce the minimum…
Date: March 6, 2020
Docket Number: 17-1701
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated in part and affirmed in part the decision of the court of appeals affirming Defendant's conviction of voluntary manslaughter, holding that the court of appeals correctly found that the district…
Date: March 6, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0563
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court imposing a seventeen and one-half year mandatory minimum prison term before parole eligibility on Defendant's second resentencing for attempted murder during…
Date: March 6, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1911
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court dismissing Appellant's petition for postconviction relief, holding that the limitations period for challenging…
Date: March 6, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0519
Justia Opinion Summary: In this action brought by a law firm seeking to enforce its payment due under a contingency fee contract the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court ordering judgment against the family that retained…
Date: February 28, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0809
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court awarding Plaintiff compensatory and punitive damages in his action for first-party bad faith in connection with a workers' compensation claim, holding that…
Date: February 21, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0981
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court upholding the final agency action of the Employment Appeal Board (EAB) denying unemployment benefits, holding…
Date: February 14, 2020
Docket Number: 17-1979
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of Cincinnati Insurance Company in this insurance dispute, holding that, for the reasons…
Date: February 14, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0353
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the court of appeals' decision affirming the district court's dismissal of a physician's petition for judicial review of the Iowa Board of Medicine's decision to use a "confidential letter of…
Date: February 14, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1354
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the district court's grant of summary judgment for an insurer on the grounds that the plaintiff's contractual assignment was unenforceable, holding that a residential contractor acting as an…
Date: February 14, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1534
Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal challenging several district court rulings in a grand jury proceeding the Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the district court, holding that the State cannot subpoena a…
Date: February 14, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0678
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the district court granting summary judgment in favor of an insurer on the grounds that the plaintiff's contractual assignment was unenforceable, holding that a residential…
Date: February 14, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1740
Date: February 7, 2020
Docket Number: 17-2009
Justia Opinion Summary: In this dispute over Contractor's attorney fees the Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the district court finding that Homeowners waived their assertion that including attorney fees in a mechanic's lien foreclosure…
Date: February 7, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0950
Justia Opinion Summary: In this breach of contract action involving the repurchase of all of a limited liability company's (LLC) member's membership interests, the Supreme Court reversed in part the district court's determination that the LLC…
Date: January 31, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0813
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the decision of the court of appeals affirming the determination of the juvenile court that termination of Father's parental rights was not in the child's best interest, holding that Iowa Code…
Date: January 31, 2020
Docket Number: 18-2222
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of boating while intoxicated in violation of Iowa Code 462A.14(1), holding that Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officers had probable cause to stop Defendant's…
Date: January 31, 2020
Docket Number: 19-0603
Justia Opinion Summary: In this criminal case in which Defendant was charged with sexually abusing his fourteen-year-old daughter, S.V., the Supreme Court reversed the district court's preliminary ruling that a video recording of a forensic…
Date: January 24, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0745
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the postconviction relief (PCR) court dismissing Appellant's fourth PCR application, holding that under this Court's holding today in Thongvanh v. State, __ N.W.2d __ (Iowa…
Date: January 24, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0885
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the district court dismissing Appellant's application for postconviction relief (PCR) claiming a violation of his constitutional right to an impartial jury drawn from a fair…
Date: January 24, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1947
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court conditionally affirmed Defendant's convictions but remanded the case for an in camera inspection of the victim's mental health records, holding that the district court erred by failing to conduct the in…
Date: January 24, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1662
Date: January 17, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0765
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the decision of the court of appeals reversing Defendant's conviction on the basis that the district court inadequately instructed the jury on Defendant's justification defense, holding that the…
Date: January 17, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1225
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court granting a Des Moines bar's motion for summary judgment and dismissing an injured party's dramshop action on the ground that the notice given to the bar or…
Date: January 17, 2020
Docket Number: 19-1320
Date: January 10, 2020
Docket Number: 18-0294
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeals affirming the judgment of the district court convicting Defendant of making a false report alleging the occurrence of the criminal act of carrying weapons,…
Date: January 10, 2020
Docket Number: 18-1199
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the order of the district court dismissing this action presenting the question of what must be shown to avoid the effects of a contractual forum-selection clause, holding that fraud in general…
Date: January 3, 2020
Docket Number: 17-1961
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the district court granting Plaintiff's petition for mandamus and ordering the City of Ottumwa to disclose names of all persons who had and had not been issued automated traffic…
