UPDATES & ANALYSIS

Iowa Supreme Court nears the end of its 2018-19 term with seven decisions remaining in the pipeline

by Rox Laird | June 14, 2019

The Iowa Supreme Court released rulings in five cases today, which by On Brief’s count will leave seven cases to be decided before the 2018-19 term is scheduled to end June 28. In July, the Court begins a two month term devoted to court rules and administrative matters.

Assuming all cases remaining are decided by June 28, the Court will have issued rulings in 113 cases, including attorney discipline matters, which is about the normal number of cases disposed of by the seven-member court each term.

Following are previous On Brief summaries of three of the cases yet to be decided:

State v. Scottize Danyelle Brown (submitted to the Court Sept. 18, 2018):

Brown appeals her conviction for second-offense Operating While Intoxicated (OWI), arguing that the traffic stop by a Waterloo police officer for a moving violation and a license-plate lamp violation was a pretextual stop – that is, a stop made for a valid reason although the officer has a different purpose for making the stop. Brown argues that pretextual stops are illegal under the Iowa Constitution’s equivalent of the Fourth Amendment. Two amicus curiae (friend of the court) briefs have been filed with the Court in this case. A brief in support of Brown was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, the NAACP, the League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa, and 1000 Kids for Iowa. A brief in support of the State was filed by the Iowa County Attorneys Association.

State v. Haas (submitted to the Court Oct. 16, 2018):

Kayla Jean Haas appeals her conviction in Story County District Court for driving while barred arguing the District Court was wrong to dismiss her motion to suppress evidence because police officers’ warrantless seizure violated the Iowa Constitution. Officers followed a vehicle driven by Haas when it left a home they had under surveillance, made the stop based on the license-plate illumination violation and searched the vehicle.

Albaugh v. The Reserve (submitted to the Court March 6, 2019):

Cheryl Albaugh appeals a Polk County District Court summary judgment ruling that her mother was required to forfeit entrance fees at her senior-living facility when worsening health required that she move out because she could no longer care for herself. Albaugh argues the trial court should have ordered The Reserve to refund her mother’s fees because the fees amounted to a rental deposit under Iowa’s Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.

Tags: Iowa Supreme Court, Iowa Supreme Court 2018-19, Iowa Supreme Court Opinions