82 results for 'court:"Iowa Supreme Court"'.
J. Waterman finds that defendant was properly convicted of possession of a firearm as a convicted felon because his muzzleloader replica of an antique firearm was a rifle and fell under the common meaning of the term firearm. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: Waterman, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 23-0338, Categories: Firearms
J. Mansfield finds that the lower court should have held that a post-marital agreement in which the wife relinquished a share of the husband's property investments was not enforceable following his death because the Iowa code section that allows marital parties to revoke prenuptial agreements does not allow parties to make new agreements while they remain married. Reversed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: Mansfield, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 23-1131, Categories: Family Law
J. McDonald finds that an employee was improperly denied second injury fund benefits in workers' compensation claims brought after she injured her lower right leg while working for Nordstrom. The employee, who had suffered a lower leg injury 33 years before, required knee surgery for the recent injury, and the resultant lymphedema in her lower right leg and foot constituted an injury to her body as a whole. Reversed in part.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 23-0182, Categories: Workers' Compensation
J. Christensen finds that defendant was properly convicted of robbery, theft, and other charges after he assaulted a husband and wife in their home while impersonating a police officer in order to steal $50,000 from their safe. Defendant committed two separate thefts, as the money belonged separately to both the husband and wife. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: Christensen, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 22-2100, Categories: Robbery, Theft, Assault
J. McDonald finds that the district court should be held responsible for costs of hiring a technology vendor to help review information contained in a police chief's emails in criminal public corruption claims because the district court took responsibility for conducting the initial privilege review in a search warrant. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: May 10, 2024, Case #: 22-1703, Categories: Civil Procedure
Want access to unlimited case records and advanced research tools? Create your free CasePortal account now. No credit card required to register.
Try CasePortal for Free
J. McDonald finds that the lower court properly allowed a foundation to continue claims concerning the ownership of property and historical artifacts displayed in the official residence of the Iowa governor because the state waived immunity upon voluntarily creating legal relationships with private citizens and the foundation. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 22/1995, Categories: Property, Immunity
J. Christensen finds that the juvenile was improperly denied additional expert witness fees at state expense regarding weapon and drug violations because the state failed to outline the reasons for denying a doctor's drive-time expenses. Reversed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: Christensen, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 23-0214, Categories: Juvenile Law, Experts
J. May finds that the lower court properly held that the city was immune from negligent hiring claims contending an unqualified employee's inspection of a privately owned building precipitated a lawsuit after a woman fell down a set of stairs because the woman failed to prove city misconduct. Reversed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: May, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 23-0917, Categories: Property, Immunity, Negligence
J. Mansfield finds that attorney Ta-Yu Yang was properly suspended from practicing law for 60 days because Yang, an experienced immigration attorney, failed to follow proper trust account practices in an immigration action.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: Mansfield, Filed On: May 3, 2024, Case #: 23-1833, Categories: Attorney Discipline
J. McDermott finds that an organization was improperly denied an open records request seeking emails sent between the state auditor’s office and two investigative reporters in regard to state Covid-19 policy because the auditor did not produce the emails for 216 days, which constituted an unreasonable delay. Reversed in part.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDermott, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 23-0201, Categories: Civil Procedure, Public Record, Covid-19
J. Oxley finds that a construction company was improperly awarded restitution after prevailing in claims concerning the construction of a children's hospital at the University of Iowa because other more appropriate avenues for perusing reimbursement existed after the lower court overturned an injunction awarded to the university. Reversed in part.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: Oxley, Filed On: April 26, 2024, Case #: 23-0239, Categories: Contract, Injunction
J. Oxley finds that the lower court properly dismissed fiduciary duty claims that minority shareholders in a family farming corporation brought against their brother and father because they failed to provide evidence indicating the brother acted as an agent for the operation. Even though he was the operations manager, the brother would have been acting in his own interests or as an employee.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: Oxley, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 22-0259, Categories: Fraud, Fiduciary Duty
J. Oxley finds that defendant was properly convicted of child exploitation for recording his wife's 15-year-old sister using the bathroom without her knowledge because the act met the statutory definition of a “prohibited sexual act” by consisting of “[n]udity of a minor for the purpose of arousing or satisfying the sexual desires of a person who may view a visual depiction of the nude minor.” Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: Oxley, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 23-0600, Categories: Sex Offender, Child Pornography
J. McDonald finds that claims seeking punitive damages concerning the administration of drainage districts were properly dismissed since plaintiffs conceded the county did not owe a fiduciary duty in administering the districts or providing engineering services, and punitive damages could not be sought in stand-alone claims. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 23-0866, Categories: Municipal Law, Damages
J. Christensen finds that defendant was properly convicted of indecent exposure after masturbating in front of two women since the unit of prosecution for indecent exposure is one count per viewer, not one count per exposure. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: Christensen, Filed On: April 19, 2024, Case #: 23-0560, Categories: Sex Offender
J. McDonald suspends attorney Reuben Neff for 60 days for violating an ethical rule prohibiting sexual harassment because he made at least nine inappropriate sexual comments at work about defendants and judges in criminal cases.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 23-0572, Categories: Attorney Discipline
J. Waterman finds that a state employee was improperly awarded damages in hostile work environment claims because discrimination experienced by others and reported to the employee in her supervisory position had been insufficient to prove her own claim, and the harassment she personally experienced was not sufficiently severe to alter the terms or conditions of her employment. Reversed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: Waterman, Filed On: April 12, 2024, Case #: 21-1898, Categories: Employment Discrimination
J. May finds that an employee was properly awarded workers' compensation after decades of hard manual labor caused a rotator cuff tear in his shoulder because four separate doctors concluded that the employee's injury had been caused by his work. Affirmed in part.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: May, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 22-1328, Categories: Experts, Workers' Compensation
J. Waterman finds that defendant was properly sentenced to prison based on his guilty plea to a felony even though the lower court mentioned the possibility of parole during sentencing because defendant was a recidivist drug offender who required a structured setting during rehabilitation. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: Waterman, Filed On: March 29, 2024, Case #: 22-1507, Categories: Drug Offender, Sentencing
J. Waterman finds that the lower court properly dismissed challenges a bar owner brought against a city ordinance following revocation of its conditional use permit for noise complaints because the city did not engage in illegal spot zoning, and Iowa Code Chapter 123 allows municipalities to regulate bars through zoning, noise restrictions, and other health and safety measures. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: Waterman, Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: 22-0473, Categories: Zoning
J. McDonald finds that defendant was improperly convicted of vehicular homicide by OWI. Defendant claimed he blacked out while driving due to a medical condition rather than because he was under the influence of controlled substances. An employee of a healthcare vendor subcontracted to provide services to the county jail provided impermissible hearsay testimony regarding statements contained in a post-accident medical records when those records were not admitted into evidence. Defendant's medical condition "was a critical piece of evidence" and the hearsay testimony "was not cumulative of other evidence," so it prejudiced defendant's case. Reversed in part.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: 21-1319, Categories: Evidence, Fair Trial, Vehicular Homicide
J. McDonald finds that defendant was properly required to register as a sex offender. His crime was sexually motivated since he posted a video of a sexual encounter with his ex-girlfriend without her consent in order to "get back at her" following a difficult break-up. Affirmed in part.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: 22-0903, Categories: Sex Offender
Per curiam, the Iowa Supreme Court finds that the county and deputy sheriff were properly denied qualified immunity after the deputy shot and killed a man attempting to flee arrest because qualified immunity protections of Iowa Code 670.4A did not apply retroactively to the 2018 incident. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: Per curiam, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: 22-1194, Categories: Civil Procedure, Civil Rights, Immunity
J. Christensen finds that defendant was properly convicted of gambling and making a false claim of winnings after she told casino employees she had won a $4,000 jackpot from a slot machine when her boyfriend had been the rightful winner. Evidence indicated defendant acted with intent to defraud and that she "had not made a wager contingent on winning a gambling game." Affirmed in part.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: Christensen, Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 22-0892, Categories: Fraud
J. Oxley quashes subpoenas issued to non-party legislators after the League of Latin American Citizens of Iowa challenged state election laws shortening voter registration time because the state constitution protects legislators from being compelled to produce documents when communications relate directly to the process of considering and enacting legislation.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: Oxley, Filed On: February 23, 2024, Case #: 22–0401, Categories: Elections, Discovery
J. Oxley finds that the district court improperly suppressed a blood test indicating defendant used methamphetamine in an action stemming from a car accident. The arresting officer falsely claimed he smelled alcohol on defendant's breath while seeking a warrant for the blood draw, but the relevant information had been excised from the warrant and the remaining claims supported the warrant. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: Oxley, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 22-0162, Categories: Drug Offender, Search
J. May finds that defendant was improperly convicted of child endangerment since the state failed to prove the children, who range in age from 5 to 12, were endangered when the mother left them asleep in their home while she went to Walmart for groceries.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: May, Filed On: February 16, 2024, Case #: 22-1581, Categories: Child Victims
J. May finds that a clinic was properly denied summary judgment in negligent retention claims in which an injured patient contended the clinic retained a surgeon not fit to practice surgery. The clinic operated as a licensed professional per Iowa Code 668.11 and thus was not entitled to dismissal. Affirmed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: May, Filed On: February 9, 2024, Case #: 22-0576, Categories: Employment, Negligence
J. McDonald finds that a welder was properly awarded permanent partial disability benefits and reimbursement of expenses for an independent medical examination for a shoulder injury because the injury caused a new permanent partial disability unrelated to a previous shoulder injury he settled while working for the same company. Affirmed in part.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: February 9, 2024, Case #: 22-1421, Categories: Workers' Compensation
J. McDonald finds that the lower court improperly suppressed evidence of a chemical breath test obtained via search warrant after defendant was pulled over. The deputy did not invoke an implied consent procedure, so no due process right was implicated when defendant was asked to blow into a breathalyzer machine. Reversed.
Court: Iowa Supreme Court, Judge: McDonald, Filed On: February 9, 2024, Case #: 22-1530, Categories: Search, Dui, Due Process