The Iowa Court of Appeals selects certain opinions for publication within the North Western Reporter. In September 2023, the Court of Appeals selected six opinions for publication, summarized below.
A convicted murderer’s bid for a new trial was denied by the Iowa Court of Appeal in a decision handed down Oct. 11. Cristhian Bahena Rivera was convicted by a Poweshiek County jury in 2021 for the murder of Mollie Tibbetts of Brooklyn, Iowa, in…
Rosemary Shaw Sackett, former Chief Judge of the Iowa Court of Appeals, died Sept. 2 in Okoboji. A graveside service is scheduled for Sept. 24 in Spirit Lake. Sackett was appointed to the Iowa Court of Appeals by Gov. Terry Branstad in 1983 and was…
An obscenity-laced Facebook post calling an apartment building owner a slumlord may have been vulgar and insulting, but it was not libelous, the Iowa Court of Appeals said in a decision handed down Nov. 30. Sloan, Iowa, apartment manager Richard Bauer created a stir with…
The Iowa Supreme Court is in the final month of its 2019-20 term before breaking for two months to focus on court administration and rules. Meanwhile, the Court has been adding cases to its 2020-21 term that begins in September with a full complement of…
The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed dismissal of a human trafficking charge and clarified that, under the 2024 statute, a defendant cannot commit human trafficking by attempting to buy sex from a victim who does not exist.
In a 5–2 decision filed on June 12, 2026, the Iowa Supreme Court in State v. Gibbs upheld a mother’s three child endangerment convictions under Iowa Code section 726.6(1)(a). Chief Justice Christensen wrote the majority opinion, joined by Justices McDonald, Oxley, McDermott, and May. Justice Mansfield filed a partial dissent, joined by Justice Waterman, concurring as to two convictions but dissenting as to the third.
In a unanimous decision filed on May 22, 2026, the Iowa Supreme Court in State v. Hall held that a defendant need not be the person who initiated an encounter to commit harassment.
In a divided 5–2 decision issued on March 27, 2026, the Iowa Supreme Court held that the search of a visitor’s backpack found on the premises during the execution of a search warrant did not violate the visitor’s rights under the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution or article I, section 8 of the Iowa Constitution.
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.
