UPDATES & ANALYSIS

5.08

Thirty cases yet to be decided in Iowa Supreme Court’s term ending in June

by Rox Laird | May 8, 2024

The Iowa Supreme Court has 30 cases left to decide in the two months that remain in the Court’s 2023-24 term.

The case that has been on the undecided list the longest – State v. Bauler, which raised a question of whether a defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights were violated in a traffic stop – was argued Nov. 15, 2023.

Following are the cases remaining to be decided, the date each was argued or submitted to the Court without oral argument, and the issues raised in those cases. [Go to On Brief’s Cases in the Pipeline page to read briefs and decisions in the cases heard and decided thus far in the Court’s 2023-24 term.]

 

Rivera v. Clear Channel Outdoor, Lamar Media Corporation and TLC Properties

Argued April 11.

Question: Was an easement void because it was granted by the previous owner without the purchaser’s knowledge or consent?

 

Conservatorship of Janice Geerdes v. Cruz

Argued April 11.

Question: Was there sufficient evidence to invalidate a deed because the land owner lacked mental capacity to know what she was signing?

 

Smith v. State

Argued April 11.

Question: Was a defendant accused of sex abuse entitled to a new trial because of ineffective assistance of counsel?

 

Puente v. Iowa City Civil Service Commission

Submitted to the Court April 11 without oral argument.

Question: Was an appeal from a Civil Service Commission decision filed under the wrong chapter of the Iowa Code?

 

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland, et al., v. Kim Reynolds ex rel. State of Iowa and Iowa Board of Medicine

Argued April 11.

Question: What standard should the Iowa Supreme Court apply to determine the constitutionality of a state statute banning abortion after fetal cardiac activity has been detected?

 

Clark v. State

Argued April 10.

Question: Is a $12 million jury award allowed for emotional damages in a legal malpractice suit against a defense lawyer?

 

Janssen v. Security National Bank and Collins

Argued April 10.

Question: Was a defendant in a will contest wrongly dismissed from the case hours before the trial?

 

Peterzalek and Weber v. Polk County District Court

Argued April 10.

Question: Should subpoenas seeking testimony of two assistant attorneys general in an employment case be quashed as violating attorney-client privilege?

 

Delaney v. Second Injury Fund

Submitted to the Court April 10 without oral argument.

Question: Is a worker eligible for workers’ compensation benefits from the Second Injury Fund of Iowa for a second work-related leg injury?

 

Elizabeth Roberts v. Estate of Roberts

Submitted to the Court April 10 without oral argument.

Question: Did a partial revocation of an antenuptial agreement comply with Iowa Code section 596.7 governing revocation of premarital agreements?

 

State v. Johnson

Argued April 4, 2024.

Questions: Should the Iowa Supreme Court overrule its 2000 decision in State v. Longo regarding a trial court’s consideration of acquitted conduct as a sentencing factor” Should the Court clarify application of the Legislature’s 2017 “stand your ground” amendments?

 

State v. Rhodes

Argued April 2.

Question: Is a replica of a 19th century muzzleloader rifle a “firearm” under Iowa law?

 

Miller v. Catholic Health Initiatives, et al.

Argued March 21.

Question: Did a court filing regarding a medical doctor fail to comply with Iowa’s certificate-of-merit requirement because the doctor does not practice in the “same or substantially similar” field as the doctors sued for medical malpractice?

 

Sundance Land Co. v. Remmark

Argued March 21.

Question: Did the boundary between two adjoining properties move when a fence line between the properties had been erected in a location away from the property line?

 

State v. Hightower

Submitted to the Court March 21 without oral argument.

Question: Did a trial court fail to properly inform a defendant that by entering a guilty plea her ability to later challenge the plea would be foreclosed?

 

State v. Lee

Argued March 21.

Question: Should a robbery of two people in their home have counted as two robberies for sentencing purposes?

 

State v. Emmet County District Court

Argued March 20.

Question: Who should pay for a special-master review of a defendant’s emails: the State; the court system; or the defendant?

 

State v. Wade

Submitted to the Court March 20 without oral argument.

Question: Did a trial court err in finding the State had sufficient evidence that a defendant was the owner of a weapon found in a backpack in a truck he was driving?

 

Olsen v. State of Iowa

Submitted to the Court March 20 without oral argument.

Question: Does denying an Illinois sex offender’s application for relief from Iowa’s sex-offender registration law violate the Constitution’s Privileges and Immunities Clause?

 

State v. White

Argued Feb. 21.

Question: Does witness testimony by closed-circuit television violate a criminal defendant’s right to confront witnesses under the confrontation clause of the Iowa Constitution?

 

State v. Rasumssen

Argument Feb. 21.

Question: Did a trial court consider improper factors in ordering a prison sentence for a defendant who entered an Alford plea for assault?

 

State v. Medina

Argued Feb. 21.

Question: Should an adult witness have been allowed to testify against a criminal defendant via closed-circuit television?

 

Teig v. Chavez, et al.

Argued Feb. 20.

Question: Did Cedar Rapids City officials violate the Iowa Open Records Act in refusing to release records related to hiring decisions?

 

Myers v. City of Cedar Falls

Argued Jan. 23.

Question: Does the city have qualified immunity from liability for an injury resulting from a diving board accident?

 

Vagts and Vagts Dairy v. Northern Natural Gas Co.

Argued Jan. 23.

Question: Should plaintiffs alleging damage to a dairy herd from stray voltage from a pipeline prove negligence for a nuisance claim?

 

State v. Schwartz

Submitted to the Court Jan. 23 without oral argument.

Question: Was a high school teacher wrongly convicted of sexual exploitation of a student in part based on the statutory definition of “hugging”?

 

State v. Jackson

Submitted to the Court Dec. 14, 2023, without oral argument.

Questions: Did a trial court wrongly allow introduction of a blood test obtained with an invalid warrant application? And should introduction of the defendant’s medical records have been barred at trial by a state patient-privacy statute?

 

S.K. by and Through his Conservator v. Obstetric & Gynecologic Assoc. of Iowa City and Coralville, et al.

Submitted to the court Dec. 14, 2023, without oral argument.

Questions:  Was a nearly $100 million verdict for an Iowa birth injury case grossly excessive on the facts of the case?

 

Bankers Trust Co. v. City of Des Moines

Argued Dec. 13, 2023.

Question: Can the City of Des Moines be held liable for damages in a sidewalk trip-and-fall case?

 

State v. Bauler

Argued Nov. 15, 2023.

Question: Were a defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights violated in a traffic stop that resulted in a search of her car and her purse following a drug-detection dog’s sniff?

 

Tags: Iowa Supreme Court 2023-24