Cedar Rapids, Iowa personal injury lawyers represented Plaintiffs, who sued Defendants on product liability theories.

This products liability case arises out of the multidistrict litigation1 (“MDL�)
proceedings regarding Biomet’s M2a Magnum hip-replacement device. After
experiencing complications from a hip replacement surgery using the M2a Magnum,
Lori Nicholson sued Bi... More...    $0 (08-26-2022 - IA)

On April 19, 2015, Sioux City Police Officer Joshua Tyler was dispatched
on a report of an unconscious party. Upon his arrival, Officer Tyler found Officer
William Enockson administering CPR to Margarita Morales. Officer Tyler then was
advised by a bystander he should speak with Rogelio Morales. Officer Tyler
approached Morales, who was sitting on the front steps of the hous... More...    $0 (09-14-2018 - IA)

On the evening of Saturday, January 7, 2006, Holly Michael, Becky Sittig,
Ashleigh Attig, and Harper hung out at Michael’s house in Fort Dodge beginning
at around 7:00 or 8:00 p.m.2 From then until the early morning hours of January
8, the group drank alcohol, smoked marijuana, and consumed cocaine. The group
left the residence to go to a nearby bar at which they arrived arou... More...    $0 (09-14-2018 - IA)

Dan Kudron entered an Alford plea1 to conspiracy to deliver a controlled
substance and failure to possess a tax stamp. See Iowa Code §§ 124.401(1)(c)(6),
453B.3, 453B.12 (2016). The district court adjudged Kudron guilty and imposed
sentence. The sentence included a D.A.R.E. surcharge for “each applicable
offense.”
I. Kudron contends the court was not authorized to im... More...    $0 (06-08-2018 - IA)

Norman Wadsworth suffered from schizophrenia for decades and received
no treatment. He had a contentious relationship with the manager at his apartment
complex, Darlene Crook, who he believed was part of a government conspiracy to
kill him. Eventually, Wadsworth was evicted from his apartment. After being
homeless for several months, Wadsworth tried to take a bus to a motel.... More...    $0 (05-18-2018 - IA)

On April 7, 2014, Marshalltown Police obtained a search warrant and a
S.W.A.T. team executed the warrant on a residence occupied by Robbins. Officers
found approximately one-half pound of methamphetamine, approximately two
pounds of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and cash. An officer spoke with Robbins
following the search and asked him who occupied the northwest bedroom wher... More...    $0 (03-24-2018 - IA)

A jury convicted Muhammad Anwar of : (1) conspiracy to distribute controlled
substances and controlled substance analogues, in violation of 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1),
841(b)(1)(c), and 846, and (2) conspiracy to commit money laundering, in violation
of 18 U.S.C. § 1956(h). The district court1 sentenced Anwar to 240 months’
imprisonment on the first count and 60 months on the second co... More...    $0 (01-28-2018 - IA)

Robert Carl Sharp pleaded guilty after a grand jury returned a three-count
superseding indictment charging him with (1) conspiracy to manufacture and
distribute a controlled substance, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 846; (2) possession with
intent to distribute a controlled substance, in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1); and
(3) possession with intent to distribute, and aiding and a... More...    $0 (01-05-2018 - IA)

Freddy Crisp shot his friend Dale Potter after a day and night of drinking. A
jury found him guilty of first-degree murder. On appeal, Crisp challenges (1) the
sufficiency of the evidence supporting the jury’s finding of guilt, (2) his trial
attorney’s failure to object to an inference-of-malice jury instruction, and (3) the
district court’s denial of his motions for new tria... More...    $0 (12-06-2017 - IA)

Kozak frames the first issue as follows: “The State denied [him] due process
when, in violation of a sustained motion in limine, it invaded the jury’s province and
questioned a witness regarding [his] ability to plan, deliberate, and premeditate.”
The procedural history informing this issue is as follows.
Before trial, Kozak notified the court of his intent to rely on a dimi... More...    $0 (12-06-2017 - IA)

On November 25, 2014, Shawonyta Norman visited his sister, Latres
Johnson, at the home she shared with her boyfriend Martez Smith. At one point
in the afternoon, Johnson was putting up a baby gate to confine her two dogs when
Smith yelled at her and pushed her into the baby gate. She fell into the gate,
breaking it, and sustaining cuts on her ankle, arm, and neck. Soon after... More...    $0 (12-06-2017 - IA)

Viewing the trial evidence in the light most favorable to the jury’s guilty
verdicts, State v. Romer, 832 N.W.2d 169, 172-73 (Iowa 2013), the jury could
have found the following facts. Terri Andersen is Patricia Pranschke’s adult
daughter. In April 2015, a warrant was issued for Andersen’s arrest. The
warrant related to a traffic violation issued to Andersen for driving on a... More...    $0 (06-16-2017 - IA)

Schmidt and the victim, Robert Nelson, were acquaintances. On
Thursday, December 28, 2006, Nelson’s neighbors heard noises around 10:00
p.m. On December 31, an apartment manager opened Nelson’s apartment and
found his dead body. Police learned that Schmidt was an acquaintance of
Nelson, questioned Schmidt and his girlfriend, and learned that Schmidt had
been renting a c... More...    $0 (06-15-2017 - IA)

Mark Koster lived in a one-bedroom house in Sac City. In 2009, he seemingly disappeared from the area without notice. Police were alerted after mail began to accumulate in the mailbox at his house and he stopped paying his utility bills. Police found a handwritten note attached to the back door of Koster’s house. The note indicated he had gone to Florida for the winter and would return in the ... More...    $0 (06-14-2017 - IA)

On August 24, 2011, a jury convicted twenty-five-year-old Jepsen on two counts of third-degree sexual abuse, class “C” felonies. On count I, the jury found Jepsen performed a sex act in 2010 with E.G., who was fourteen or fifteen
years old at the time. See Iowa Code § 709.4(2)(c) (2009). On count II, the jury
decided Jepsen performed a sex act in 2010 with H.B., who was thirteen years... More...    $0 (04-06-2017 - IA)

At trial, the State offered evidence that Ahart and his girlfriend, Mara
Lubavs-Martin, operated a large-scale drug-dealing operation out of their Des
Moines residence. Law enforcement surveilled the house on at least ten
occasions and saw people coming and going on a regular basis. Officers from
the Mid-Iowa Narcotics Enforcement and the Drug Enforcement Administration
... More...    $0 (02-10-2017 - IA)

The facts as presented at trial reflect that in the early morning hours of
March 10, 2014, Michael Schenk, Jayden Chapman, and Erika Dains met, used
methamphetamine, and rode in Schenk’s blue extended-cab truck to a farm
belonging to Marvin Huelsing with the intent to steal scrap metal. Dains testified
that while they were driving around the farm property collecting various it... More...    $0 (12-21-2016 - IA)

On August 19, 2013, Washington was charged by trial information with murder in the first degree in the death of Justina Smith. Washington entered a plea of not guilty and gave notice he would claim self-defense. The trial was initially set to begin on May 12, 2015. On May 5, 2015, Washington filed a motion to strike the jury panel, arguing there was “a material departure from the statutory... More...    $0 (10-27-2016 - IA)

On March 10, 2012, Brandon and his wife went to Buddy & Pal’s Place, a bar
in Schererville, for a birthday party. Walker was attending the same birthday
party, although Brandon and Walker did not know each other.

At some point, Brandon and Walker got into a verbal argument. According to
Walker, Brandon told him “I’ll ‘F’ you up, punk.” Tr. p. 86. A Buddy & Pal’s
... More...    $0 (10-15-2016 - IA)

On July 27, 2014, at about 1:30 a.m., Iowa City police officers heard three
or four gunshots at the pedestrian mall in downtown Iowa City. Michael Dillon,
who operated a food vending cart, saw a man fire a weapon into the air and then
run from the scene. Diane Dillon, who was also working at the food vending cart,
crouched down when she heard the shots. Diane stated there we... More...    $0 (06-19-2016 - IA)

In this appeal from convictions of involuntary manslaughter by
commission of public offense and child endangerment resulting in death,
we primarily consider a claim of ineffective assistance of trial counsel
based on the failure to challenge the sufficiency of evidence to support
the submission of all four alternative means of committing the crime of
child endangerment. On our ... More...    $0 (06-12-2016 - IA)

On February 26, 2014, Scott Sudbeck shot and killed his ex-girlfriend,
Michaela Jordan. He was tried and convicted of murder in the first degree in
violation of Iowa Code sections 707.1 and 707.2 (2013). On appeal, he
challenges the sufficiency of the evidence. He relatedly contends the district
court erred in denying his motion for new trial on the basis the conviction was ... More...    $0 (05-26-2016 - IA)

Tajh Ross appeals his convictions for murder in the first degree,
intimidation with a dangerous weapon, and going armed with intent. He asserts
the district court erred when it denied defense counsel’s motions to withdraw;
furthermore, by denying his request to proceed pro se, Ross claims the court
violated his Sixth Amendment right to represent himself. He also claims
i... More...    $0 (04-28-2016 - IA)

A mother found her two young daughters severely beaten in their home;
the older daughter died from her injuries. The State charged Angel Garcia
Miranda with murder in the first degree, attempted murder, willful injury, and child
endangerment, and the case proceeded to trial. On the murder count, the jury
was instructed the State would have to prove Garcia-Miranda either: (a) “... More...    $0 (04-28-2016 - IA)

A defendant appealed his conviction following a jury trial on three counts of delivery of a controlled substance in violation of Iowa Code section 124.401(1)(c)(3) (2013). We transferred the case to the court of appeals. The court of appeals reversed the conviction on the ground the defendant’s constitutional right to a fair trial by an impartial jury was violated when he was convicted by jurors w... More...    $0 (04-09-2016 - IA)

Chance Niles was playing pool with Harris at the Dive Bar in Sioux City
when an argument began between the two. The bartender, John Nguyen, told
the men that the bar was closing and ordered them to leave. The bartender had
Harris leave the bar first. The bartender had Niles stay in the bar for
approximately five minutes before having him leave. As Niles left the building, <... More...    $0 (04-07-2016 - IA)

The trial information and minutes of testimony allege these facts, which we accept as true for purposes of this appeal.1 The defendants, Demetrius Rimmer, Rona Murphy, and Melonicka Thomas, participated in an insurance fraud ring that staged car accidents in Chicago, Illinois. Murphy and Thomas are Illinois residents, and their vehicles were registered in Illinois. Rimmer is a Milwaukee, Wiscon... More...    $0 (03-25-2016 - IA)

We incorporate the district court’s statement of the factual background:
Stephen Boeding, (hereinafter, “Boeding”) and the decedent, Kevin O’ConnelI (hereinafter, “O’Connell”) had been friends since meeting in Country Oaks [(a substance abuse program)] in 2007. The evidence supports that they were also intermittent sexual partners. On or about May 18, 2013, Boeding sent text messages to O’... More...    $0 (03-23-2016 - IA)

Dawn and Walter Norem1 were married and lived in rural Harris, Iowa.
Their two adult daughters both had residences about fourteen miles away in
Milford. Dawn worked in Milford as a dietary manager at a nursing center.
back injury prevented Norem from working. He also suffered from anxiety. In
early November 2012, Norem had been feeling increasingly anxious and was not
... More...    $0 (01-13-2016 - IA)

On the evening of November 15, 2007, Lori Parr test drove a used SUV with Kevin Bryant, a salesperson at a Pat McGrath auto dealership in Cedar Rapids. Bryant directed Parr to drive down Edgewood Road so she could experience city driving in the SUV. Parr made an illegal left turn, and the SUV was struck on the passenger side by a car driven by Robert Rimrodt. Bryant hit his head and briefly los... More...    $0 (12-14-2015 - IA)

In 2003, Westlake Investments, LLC, entered negotiations to purchase
Westlake Apartments, a 300-unit apartment complex in West Des Moines, while
the complex was under construction.1 The developers (collectively, MLP
Management, LLC) guaranteed the construction would be “first class and of
workmanlike quality.” MLP purchased a primary commercial general liability
(CGL) po... More...    $0 (10-28-2015 - IA)

In the early morning hours of November 26, 2012, residents of a Des Moines neighborhood called 911 and reported an injured person lying in the street near the intersection of East 17th Street and Walnut Street. Police responded to the call and encountered Eric Naylor, who was covered in blood and had multiple stab wounds. Naylor received some emergency medical assistance, but his injuries were f... More...    $0 (10-23-2015 - IA)

In this interlocutory appeal, Director Jason Smith, M.D., and Nurse Mary
Benson, both of Iowa's Civil Commitment Unit for Sex Offenders (CCUSO)
(collectively, "defendants"),2 appeal the district court's order denying them qualified
immunity from damages in a 42 U.S.C. § 1983 suit brought by Marvin Mead, a
patient civilly committed at the CCUSO. Mead claimed that he was denied essen... More...    $0 (07-24-2015 - IA)

A juvenile offender convicted of first-degree murder appeals his
resentencing to life in prison without the possibility of parole. In this
appeal, we determine the factors a court must use when it sentences a
juvenile offender for first-degree murder. Because the district court did
not have the benefit of this decision when it sentenced the juvenile, we
vacate the sentence and ... More...    $0 (06-26-2015 - IA)

In this case involving claims for misappropriation of trade secrets,
we have before us an interlocutory appeal on a discovery issue. In
particular, the plaintiffs ask us to review a district court order requiring
the redesignation of the plaintiffs’ standard operating procedures (SOPs)
from “attorneys’ eyes only� to “confidential.� The underlying protective
order al... More...    $0 (06-26-2015 - IA)

Teresa Wagner appeals from the district court's denial of her motion for new
trial, arguing that significant errors in the verdict formulation process entitle her to
a new trial. Under the standard we apply today, we conclude that the district court
abused its discretion in denying Wagner's motion. Accordingly, we reverse and
remand for a new trial.
I. BACKGROUND
This case ... More...    $0 (07-15-2014 - IA)