Iowa Wrongful Death Lawyer category
1Court upholds 42-year sentence
27 August 2008
An attorney for 19-year-old Zachariah Blanton had appealed the sentence as inappropriate, arguing that the shooting “was a more or less routine act of manslaughter, if such a thing is said to exist.”
But in an eight-page ruling, the court disagreed, noting that the shooting terrorized drivers who had done nothing to make Blanton angry, and the trial court was free to consider that as an aggravating factor in his sentence.
“The harm to the motoring public is inherent to this offense — randomly and intentionally shooting at cars with a rifle from a highway overpass creates a public fear beyond that of the ‘ordinary’ manslaughter in which the victim is at least associated with creating the sudden heat that results in the death,” the court wrote in its ruling Thursday.
2UIHC sued in death
24 August 2008
An Iowa family filed a lawsuit Monday, alleging staff members at the UI Hospitals and Clinics caused the death of their daughter, the third lawsuit of its kind this year.
Larry and Janice Kaberle of Rowley, Iowa, alleged in the suit that their daughter, Lisa Kaberle Zahina, died due to “complications of myocarditis” in 2005, only days after she was discharged from UIHC.
The family’s attorney, Larry Helvey of Cedar Rapids, wrote in the suit that Kaberle Zahina, 24 at the time, was admitted to UIHC on May 14, 2005, complaining of a headache, chest discomfort, a rapid heart beat, and shortness of breath. She was eventually diagnosed with myocarditis - the inflammation of a muscular substance of the heart.
On July 1, 2005, Kaberle Zahina was allegedly told at a follow-up appointment at UIHC that her myocarditis was resolved.
Three days later, she was admitted to Virginia Gay Hospital in Vinton, Iowa, the lawsuit read, complaining of dizziness, a headache, nausea, and vomiting. She died later that day.
An autopsy performed at UIHC the next day “listed her cause of death as complications of myocarditis,” according to the petition.
3UIHC sued in death
14 August 2008
An Iowa family filed a lawsuit Monday, alleging staff members at the UI Hospitals and Clinics caused the death of their daughter, the third lawsuit of its kind this year.
Larry and Janice Kaberle of Rowley, Iowa, alleged in the suit that their daughter, Lisa Kaberle Zahina, died due to “complications of myocarditis” in 2005, only days after she was discharged from UIHC.
The family’s attorney, Larry Helvey of Cedar Rapids, wrote in the suit that Kaberle Zahina, 24 at the time, was admitted to UIHC on May 14, 2005, complaining of a headache, chest discomfort, a rapid heart beat, and shortness of breath. She was eventually diagnosed with myocarditis - the inflammation of a muscular substance of the heart.
On July 1, 2005, Kaberle Zahina was allegedly told at a follow-up appointment at UIHC that her myocarditis was resolved.
Three days later, she was admitted to Virginia Gay Hospital in Vinton, Iowa, the lawsuit read, complaining of dizziness, a headache, nausea, and vomiting. She died later that day.
4Iowa wrongful death
11 August 2008
FERNLEY–At a Candidates Night forum held in Fernley, three candidates vying for the Third Judicial District Court, Department 1 judge post told the audience of their knowledge and views of the judicial system.
At next Tuesday’s primary election, voters will have an opportunity to vote for, incumbent Judge David Huff, Jack Kennedy or Art Mallory.
The top two candidates will advance to the General Election in November.
“¢David Huff (incumbent): Huff has been on the bench for nearly 12 years. He grew up in Iowa and he is the youngest of ten children. Huff attended Iowa University and also Iowa Law School.
He said, with ten children to feed and clothe his family didn’t have a lot of money so he worked his way through college and law school.
Upon graduating from law school in 1965, he joined the Navy and was commissioned in the Judge Advocate General’s (JAG) Corps and spent 20 years as an officer in that branch.
After serving a tour in Vietnam, Huff retired at NAS Fallon, where he went on to open a private practice for 10 years.
Then in 1996 when former District Court Judge, Mario Recanzone decided not to seek another term, Huff ran for the post.
While serving as a district judge, Huff said he pursued further education and attended various legal continuing education and also classes at the National Judicial College at the University of Nevada, Reno. He will soon complete a masters degree in judicial studies from UNR.
Huffs legal background includes 43-years in both civil and criminal law.
He served on the Judicial Discipline Commission and currently serves on the Standing Committee for Judicial Ethics and Election Practices, as well as the Ethics and Indigent Defense Commission, which he said was a commission appointed by the Supreme Court to examine the way courts provide attorney’s for indigent defendants.
Huff said in closing that he’s done a good job on the bench, adding, “There is a learning curve when you become a judge. Experience counts and I can do the job.”
“¢Jack Kennedy: The Fernley man encouraged voters to get involved and look particular at the candidates seeking judicial positions, saying, “The judicial office is the most significant one to keep the balance of power between the legislative and executive branches. The judicial is the last ditch effort to make sure we have fairness in the system.”
Kennedy said he is seeking the Department 1 judge seat because he has had the benefit of operating a “successful practice in northern Nevada (Reno) for more than 30 years,” and that he wants to give back “not only to the profession but to the community.”
Kennedy went on to say he understands the benefits of operating a business efficiently and “using the available technology to reduce unnecessary expenditures,” which he said “saves both time and financial resources.”
He went on to say he chose Department 1 because the motions before the court need to move quicker than they have in the past, adding, “Justice delayed is justice denied.”
Kennedy said he has a board base of legal experience ranging from employment law, wrongful death, personal injury, and real estate, to business law.
He continued saying that in family law he learned mediation and the use of a third party finds out what is in the best interest of the child, saying, “It needs to be utilized, we’re not using it in Department 1. I’ll change that.”
Kennedy continued, “We also have to make the system faster, better, and cheaper,” saying he would use “Mediation status conferences that are directed by the judge as opposed to non-participation.”
He continued if elected he would use electronic filing, which is used in the federal court and noted such procedures were ordered by the Supreme Court in December 2006, but it has not been initiated.
“I’m here to improve the system,” said Kennedy.
5CIETC outrage not near end
4 August 2008
Lawyers in the CIETC civil lawsuit agreed Thursday on an August 2010 trial date, which sets the stage for at least two more years of legal battles over roughly $1.5 million in taxpayer money allegedly misspent by former job-training executive Ramona Cunningham and others.
“There are a lot of different issues, and there are a lot of people in the case that weren’t in the case before,” said Leon Spies, attorney for former Iowa Workforce Development executive Jane Barto, one of those accused in the case. “I think the blister continues to fester.”
6Legal group in Iowa aims to review convictions
29 July 2008
The odds of a judge overturning a murder conviction in Iowa are minute, but a handful of lawyers are out to change that.
The lawyers have created the state’s first innocence project to investigate alleged cases of wrongful conviction. The all-volunteer effort promises to increase the chances that more Iowa inmates will be exonerated for crimes they didn’t commit, national experts say.
“There’s no question that we have more of these cases now - there have been more than 1,300 documented exonerations in the U.S. going back to the 1800s,” said Rob Warden, who heads one of the country’s most successful innocence projects at Northwestern University. “Before we had modern science, they were rare. Now with DNA evidence and more innocence projects, they are much more common.”
One case in Iowa that doesn’t involve DNA but has the potential for a first-degree murder conviction being overturned is that of David Flores. Des Moines police admitted in court this month that they did not give Flores’ lawyers a 1996 FBI report in which another man was named a suspect in the shooting death of bank executive Phyllis Davis.
Flores has served 12 years in prison. He is expected to have a hearing next month at which Polk County District Judge Don Nickerson will be asked to decide whether Flores’ conviction should be vacated because the evidence that was withheld could have changed the outcome of his trial.
7CIETC outrage not near end
24 July 2008
Lawyers in the CIETC civil lawsuit agreed Thursday on an August 2010 trial date, which sets the stage for at least two more years of legal battles over roughly $1.5 million in taxpayer money allegedly misspent by former job-training executive Ramona Cunningham and others.
“There are a lot of different issues, and there are a lot of people in the case that weren’t in the case before,” said Leon Spies, attorney for former Iowa Workforce Development executive Jane Barto, one of those accused in the case. “I think the blister continues to fester.”
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller’s office sued seven former officials of the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium in March to recover at least $1.3 million linked to various CIETC officials. The lawsuit - it also names a former CIETC consultant and former auditing firm Faller & Kinchloe -was filed before April’s fraud and conspiracy trial in Davenport.
Jurors in the criminal case found former CIETC accountant Karen Tesdell guilty of 29 charges connected to what prosecutors said was a three-year conspiracy to misspend public money on CIETC salaries.
Barto, a co-defendant, was found not guilty of conspiracy but was convicted of obstructing a CIETC investigation.
Former board member Dan Albritton also was acquitted of conspiracy.
Cunningham, Tesdell, Barto and Albritton all are named in the civil lawsuit, along with former CIETC board chairman Archie Brooks, former executive John Bargman and Bargman’s wife, former CIETC consultant Deb Dessert.
Lawyers say Barto and Albritton, despite their acquittals in the criminal case, still face civil liability in a manner similar to legal proceedings against former football star O.J. Simpson. Simpson, acquitted of murder in 1995, later was socked with a $38 million Iowa wrongful death judgment.
8Liability problems considered by Supervisors
9 July 2008
Dave Shanahan, Cherokee County Engineer, showed the Cherokee County Board of Supervisors a form that was developed to reduce county liability for accidents that occur during the Registers Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa (RAGBRAI).
However, the form to be signed by registered RABRAI participants will not entirely eliminate the possibility of lawsuits against counties.
The attempt to reduce the liability exposure of county governments throughout Iowa resulted from a lawsuit against Crawford County after a bike rider had a fatal accident on a county road during the 2004 RAGBRAI.
The county subsequently settled the lawsuit filed by family members of Kirk Ullrich, 49, Davenport, for $350,000. Ullrich had gotten his tire caught in a crack on the road, resulting in the accident.
Ullrich was a registered participant of RAGBRAI and had signed a waiver dismissing any liability of RAGBRAI itself or RAGBRAI’s sponsoring organization, the Des Moines Register. However, individual counties and cities were not exempted from lawsuits under the waiver, a situation that the newly developed form was intended to correct.
Shanahan pointed out that the majority of the riders during the RAGBRAI event are not registered and therefore do not sign any waivers.
There is also some question as to whether such a waiver can actually prohibit family members from filing a Iowa wrongful death lawsuit, although the family of Ullrich apparently respected the waiver and didn’t name RAGBRAI or the Des Moines Register in the lawsuit.
9David Flores case: D.M. police admit having key report
17 June 2008
Prosecutors now acknowledge that a key piece of evidence in a controversial gang-related murder in 1996 was never disclosed to convicted killer David Flores’ defense lawyers.
Court records show Des Moines police are admitting for the first time that they did have an FBI report identifying another suspect in the case when Flores was convicted of shooting bank executive Phyllis Davis.
The revelation could result in Flores, now 31, being freed after 12 years behind bars. Attorneys will hold an emergency meeting this morning with Polk County Judge Don Nickerson to discuss what happens next in the case.
10Family files lawsuit…
6 June 2008
MASON CITY, Iowa - The family members of a Mason City woman who was killed in a 2007 house fire have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the man who shared her home.
According to Cerro Gordo County court records the lawsuit was filed against Ron Larsen on May 19. Young’s son, Scottie Lear, as well as Lear’s wife and daughter are plaintiffs case.
The lawsuit contends that Larsens unattended burning cigarette that caused the fire that led to his mother’s death. A fire marshal’s report concluded burning embers from a cigarette ignited the fire last year.
Young was credited with saving the lives of Jennifer and Becky Lear, who were sleeping when the fire was discovered. Larsen was not home at the time of the fire.