A criminal suspect who runs into police cars while fleeing law-enforcement officers can be ordered to pay restitution for damage to the government’s vehicles, the Iowa Supreme Court said in a unanimous ruling handed down Nov. 30. Darryl B. Shears Jr. was fleeing several Davenport…
The Iowa Supreme Court ruled that the felony-murder rule may be applied to juvenile offenders in a decision upholding the sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole for a defendant who was 16 at the time of the crime. Keyon Harrison was…
A Black Hawk County man convicted of sexually abusing his granddaughter should have access to police reports that could undermine the credibility of his accuser, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled May 11. David M. Powers was convicted of sex abuse based on allegations by his…
The Iowa Supreme Court’s May 4 ruling upholding the sex-abuse conviction of a man who faked his identity turns on the question of consent. The question is not whether the woman consented to having sex, however, but the question is with whom. Michael Kelso-Christy created a…
Iowa’s Supreme Court justices are often divided in juvenile sentencing cases, but they found common ground in a decision handed down April 20: The State can prosecute a juvenile as young as age 13. Noah Riley Crooks argued in an appeal to the Supreme Court…
In an opinion filed Oct 30, 2026, the Iowa Supreme Court reversed a district court’s order in In the matter of $11,500 Seized from Bitcoin Depot Operating, LLC, which denied a Bitcoin ATM operator’s request to recover $11,500 that had been seized by the police.
In its unanimous October 23, 2026, opinion in Perry v. Dordt University, the Iowa Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal of a former nursing student’s religious discrimination claim under the Iowa Civil Rights Act (ICRA).
Submitted to the Court on September 10 for further review from the Iowa Court of Appeals, the Court filed its unanimous opinion on October 16, affirming the dismissal of a mother’s untimely appeal in In re E.S.
The Court heard oral argument in State v. Amyda on September 9 and issued its opinion on October 9. Justice Mansfield wrote for the Court, which unanimously affirmed Max Amyda’s conviction for third degree sexual abuse.
On Brief: Iowa’s Appellate Blog is devoted to appellate litigation with a focus on the Iowa Supreme Court, the Iowa Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
