UPDATES & ANALYSIS

11.01

Iowa Supreme Court to hear arguments in eight cases Nov. 13-14

by Rox Laird | November 1, 2024

The Iowa Supreme Court will hear arguments in eight cases Nov. 13 and Nov. 14. Five other cases will be submitted to the Court without oral argument. Following are brief summaries of the November cases. Go to On Brief’s “Cases in the Pipeline” page to read briefs filed in these cases. [Note: Once case will be argued Nov. 19 in Marshalltown, which On Brief will summarize closer to that argument.]

 

Singer, et al. v. City of Orange City, et al.

Scheduled for oral argument Nov. 13, 9 a.m.

Question: Do administrative warrants issued by a municipality to search rental apartments violate the Iowa Constitution’s bar on unreasonable searches?

The City of Orange City and the city’s Code Enforcement Officer Kurt Frederes appeal the Sioux County District Court’s ruling on summary judgment in favor of Orange City renters and landlords holding that the city’s mandatory rental inspection requirement is unconstitutional under the Iowa Constitution’s equivalent of the Fourth Amendment and permanently enjoining the city from seeking an administrative search warrant to conduct inspections. The City argues the Iowa Legislature provided a right of entry and the authority to seek administrative search warrants under Iowa Code section 808.14, and that the ordinance allowing the city to seek administrative search warrants does not violate the Iowa Constitution.

An amicus curiae brief was filed with the Court by the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa in support of the plaintiffs-appellees.

 

State v. Sievers

Scheduled for oral argument Nov. 13, 9 a.m.

Questions: Did a district court’s errors during trial result in the wrongful conviction of a defendant on charges of sexual abuse?

Allan Sievers appeals his conviction by a Pottawattamie County jury on two counts of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor child. Sievers raises five issues in his appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court, including whether the district court erred in admitting explicit images from his computer and allowing a witness to testify while shackled and in jail attire when the State elicited testimony from the witness that he was Sievers’ best friend. Sievers urges the Court to vacate his conviction and dismiss the case or remand for a new trial.

 

State v. Greenland

Will be submitted to the Court Nov. 13 without oral argument.

Question: Should a trial court have merged a charge of assault on a peace officer with the lesser-included charge of attempt to commit murder of a peace officer?

Gerry Greenland seeks further review of a Jan. 24 Iowa Court of Appeals ruling affirming his conviction by the Decatur County District Court for assault on a peace officer and attempt to commit murder of a peace officer after Greenland drove a tractor mounted with 5-foot-long bale spears at a sheriff’s vehicle and rammed the driver’s side, which was occupied by the sheriff. The Court of Appeals disagreed with Greenland’s argument that the trial court should have merged the two charges because assault with intent to inflict serious injury is a lesser-included offense of attempt to commit murder. The Court of Appeals agreed with the trial court that the act of driving the tractor at the sheriff’s vehicle was a separate act from the physical ramming of the sheriff’s vehicle with the raised bale spears directed at the driver seat of the vehicle.

 

Banwart v. Neurosurgery of North Iowa, et al.

Will be submitted to the Court Nov. 13 without oral argument.

Question: Did the Iowa Supreme Court usurp the Legislature’s power to set statutes of limitations with supervisory orders in 2020 extending statutes of limitation during the Covid 19 outbreak?

Marlene Banwart and Richard Banwart appeal the Cerro Gordo District Court’s summary judgment dismissal of the Banwarts’ medical malpractice suit against Neurosurgery of North Iowa, David Beck M.D., and Thomas Getta M.D., holding that the Banwarts’ petition was barred by the statute of limitations because it was filed more than two years from the date of Marlene Banwart’s injury. In response to the Banwarts’ argument that the statute of limitations was suspended by the Iowa Supreme Court’s orders during the 2020 Covid 19 outbreak, the district court held that the orders were an unconstitutional usurpation of the Legislature’s power to set statutes of limitations.

 

Feller v. State of Iowa

Scheduled for oral argument Nov. 13, 1:30 p.m.

Question: Should a convicted sex offender still be required to register as a sex offender for life after completing his prison sentences?

John Feller seeks further review of a May 8 Iowa Court of Appeals decision affirming the Dubuque County District Court’s denial of his application to modify his lifetime sex offender registration requirement. Feller pleaded guilty in 2011 to two counts of lascivious acts with a child and was sentenced to five years in prison, to a 10-year special sentence in the custody of the Department of Corrections, and to register as a sex offender. Feller learned upon discharging his sentences that he was required by statute to register for life because the prosecutor brought charges under two separate criminal statutes instead of merging the two when the second count was added. Feller did not challenge that at the time or in post-conviction proceedings, but in addition to challenging the district court’s denial of his bid to modify the registry requirement, Feller now argues the district court erred by failing to consider a procedural error that resulted in his lifetime registry requirement.

 

Waterloo Community School District v. Employers Mutual Casualty Co.

Scheduled for oral argument Nov. 13, 1:30 p.m.

Question: Is an insurance company liable for rebuilding a school outside of the area where a roof collapsed over a classroom?

The Waterloo Community School District appeals the Polk County District Court’s decision granting summary judgment to Employers Mutual Casualty (EMC) and holding that EMC’s policy did not cover rebuilding an elementary school outside of the immediate vicinity of a classroom where the roof collapsed after a snowstorm. The roof collapsed because mortar in the middle load-bearing layer of the exterior walls had deteriorated to the point that the walls could no longer support the weight of the snow and ice that had collected on the roof, and Waterloo’s building code required extensive rebuilding outside the specific area of collapse. The district court concluded the insurance policy excluded coverage for the repairs required outside the area of the initial roof collapse. The school district argues on appeal that because there was a covered loss, EMC’s policy provides additional coverage for repairs to bring the school into compliance with the city’s building code.

 

Second Injury Fund of Iowa v. Regena Strable

Will be submitted to the Court Nov. 13 without oral argument.

Question: Did the Polk County District Court fail to follow court precedents in reversing a decision of the Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commissioner?

Regena Strable appeals the Polk County District Court’s decision reversing the Iowa Workers’ Compensation Commissioner’s decision that Strable’s workplace injury was a second qualifying loss under Iowa Code section 85.64. In reversing the Commissioner, the district court held that an unscheduled injury can never be a second qualifying injury under section 85.64. In her appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court, Strable argues the Commissioner correctly interpreted and applied section 85.64 and that the district court’s decision conflicts with the Iowa Supreme Court’s decisions in Second Injury Fund v. George (2007) and Gregory v. Second Injury Fund (2010), and a 2023 decision of the Iowa Court of Appeals.

 

Hampe v. Charles Gabus Motors

Scheduled for oral argument Nov. 14, 9 a.m.

Question: Did the Iowa Court of Appeals err in overturning a district court’s summary judgment dismissal of an employee’s claim that his employer violated Iowa’s drug-testing statute?

Charles Gabus Motors (“Gabus”) seeks further review of a Jan. 10 Iowa Court of Appeals ruling reversing in part and affirming in part a Polk County District Court decision granting Gabus’s motion for summary judgment. Scott Hampe was fired by Gabus when he refused to comply with the company’s demand that he take a random drug test on site after producing two “insufficient” urine samples. The Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s judgment as to several of Hampe’s claims against Gabus but reversed on Hampe’s statutory claims regarding the testing-pool, supervisor-training, and uniform disciplinary policy requirements in Iowa Code section 730.5, and remanded for further proceedings.

 

Koester v. Eyerly-Ball Community Health Services, et al.

Scheduled for oral argument Nov. 14, 9 a.m.

Question: Does a claim of wrongful discharge in violation of public policy under Iowa Code Chapter 91A cover an employee who was fully paid?

Eyerly-Ball Community Mental Health Services, Rebecca Parker, and Monica Van Horn seek further review of a March 27 Iowa Court of Appeals decision affirming in part and reversing in part Ashley Koester’s claims of wrongful termination in violation of public policy under common law and wrongful termination and retaliation under Iowa Code chapter 91A. The Polk County District Court dismissed Koester’s claims on summary judgment. The Court of Appeals reversed the district court’s dismissal of Koester’s common-law claim but agreed that her statutory count is barred by the statute of limitations. In its application for further review, Eyerly-Ball argues the Court of Appeals decision should be reversed because its ruling would expand the claim of wrongful discharge in violation of public policy under Iowa Code Chapter 91A to cover an employee who was fully paid.

 

State v. Duffield

Will be submitted to the Court Nov. 14 without oral argument.

Question: Did a district court improperly sentence a defendant who pleaded guilty to failing to register as a sex offender?

Isaiah Duffield seeks further review of a May 22 Iowa Court of Appeals decision vacating in part the Fayette County District Court’s sentences following his guilty plea to failing to register as a sex offender. Duffield was sentenced to two years in prison to run consecutively with his sentence in a separate case, along with a $1,025 fine, which was suspended. The Court of Appeals affirmed Duffield’s fine because it fell within the statutory ranges, and it affirmed his two-year sentence for the sex offender registry violation but reversed his sentence in the separate case.

 

In re Estate of Johnston

Will be submitted to the Court Nov. 14 without oral argument.

Question: Did a district court err in granting a motion for a directed verdict in a contested estate case?

The Estate of John Eugene Johnston and Rebecca Askeland, decedent’s daughter from a prior marriage, seek further review of a Nov. 8, 2023, Iowa Court of Appeals ruling reversing the Wapello County District Court’s directed verdict for Askeland and the estate. Decedent’s surviving spouse, Peggy Johnston, filed a claim against the estate for half of the couple’s joint accounts, and claimed funds from the joint accounts had been transferred to Askeland. The Court of Appeals held that because it could not conclude the evidence was insufficient to support Peggy Johnston’s claim, it reversed the district court’s directed verdict and remanded for completion of the hearing on the claim.

 

Mehmedovic, et al., v. Tyson Foods, et al.

Scheduled for oral argument Nov. 14, 1:30 p.m.

Question: Does the Iowa Workers’ Compensation Act preclude claims that employees died of Covid-19 due to their employer’s gross negligence?

Nedzad Mehmedovic as the administrator of the Estate of Hus Hari Buljic and as the administrator of the Estate of Sedika Buljic; Honario Garcia individually and as administrator of the Estate of Reberiano Leno Garcia; and Arturo de Jesus Hernandez et al., appeal a Black Hawk County District Court ruling dismissing plaintiffs’ combined cases brought against Tyson and on behalf of four workers who died of Covid-19 complications claiming their deaths were due to Tyson’s executives and supervisors’ fraud and gross negligence. The district court dismissed the cases, holding that the Iowa Workers’ Compensation Act precluded the claims because “the gist of the claims is a workplace injury” and that gross negligence must be specifically pled as to each co-employee defendant. The plaintiffs-appellants urge the Iowa Supreme Court to reverse the district court and remand for further proceedings.

 

State v. Dorsey

Scheduled for oral argument Nov. 14, 1:30 p.m.

Questions: Did a district court properly grant a motion for change of venue in the prosecution of a defendant for second-degree murder and child endangerment causing death?

Alison Dorsey seeks further review of a June 5 Iowa Court of Appeals ruling affirming a jury’s convictions of Dorsey for second-degree murder and child endangerment causing death following the death of an eleven-week-old child resulting from injuries that occurred while in Dorsey’s care at her child-care center. The Court of Appeals held that the Cass County District Court did not err in granting the State’s motion for a change of venue to Pottawattamie County and that substantial evidence supports the jury verdicts

Tags: Iowa Supreme Court 2024-25