Luke E. Linnan

The case involved the conviction of a diabetic defendant for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, based on a blood test result of 268 mgm per 100 cc following an accident. The sole issue on appeal was whether the assistant county attorney's offer, made in the jury's presence, to conduct an immediate new blood test at the hospital with the defendant's physician and the coroner constituted prejudicial misconduct warranting a new trial. The Iowa Supreme Court affirmed the conviction, reasoning that the statement was not so prejudicial as to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, drawing analogies to refusals of other tests and applying precedents that require misconduct to result in a miscarriage of justice before reversal is justified.

criminal lawprocedure

The case Johnston v. District Township of Ellsworth concerned a 1905 deed conveying a 0.75-acre tract for a schoolhouse site in exchange for one dollar, with the school later abandoned in 1954. The current landowner sought to recover the tract under statutes in effect at the time of the original deed, while the school district maintained that statutes applicable at abandonment controlled. The court determined that the deed was an absolute conveyance without any limiting conditions or restrictions, as language about the purpose of the conveyance did not restrict title. It further held that rights of reversion for school sites are statutory and subject to legislative changes, so the statutes in force at abandonment applied. The court reversed the lower court decision.

property

The case involved the conviction of defendant Charles R. Garman for offering beer to a 20-year-old married man, David Howe, in violation of Iowa Code Section 124.20. The court affirmed the conviction, holding that Section 599.1, which provides that minors attain majority by marriage, applies only to civil matters and not to criminal statutes prohibiting sales of beer to minors. The reasoning was that the purpose of the beer sale prohibition is public welfare and protection of persons of immature age, regardless of marital status, as supported by prior precedent and similar cases from other jurisdictions.

criminal lawfamily law

This case involves a trustee of a reorganized Delaware corporation suing its former nonresident president and CEO for over nine million dollars in damages based on alleged fraud and mismanagement. The defendant was served with process in an Iowa state court action while attending a hearing in federal bankruptcy court on his own claim for expenses and services against the debtor, prompting him to file a special appearance seeking to quash service on grounds of nonresident immunity. The trial court sustained the special appearance and quashed service under the general rule protecting nonresidents attending court proceedings. The Iowa Supreme Court reversed, concluding that the immunity rule does not extend to a nonresident who voluntarily comes into the state to pursue litigation he initiated involving the same subject matter between the same parties, where the new action addresses matters not fully determinable in the bankruptcy proceeding.

procedurebusiness & regulatory

This case involved a dispute over whether fire insurance policies issued to the Indianola Country Club covered damage to an underground electric cable struck by lightning. The policies provided coverage for the clubhouse building and its contents, explicitly including electric wiring and permanent fixtures only while contained in or constituting a permanent part of the building. The cable ran from a highway highline to a transformer pole 40-50 feet from the building. The trial court dismissed the claim, and the Iowa Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the policy language was unambiguous and did not extend coverage to wiring or fixtures outside the building or disconnected from it. The court applied principles of contract interpretation, rejecting arguments that the cable qualified as covered electric wiring or a permanent fixture of the building.

propertybusiness & regulatory