IN THE SUPREME COURT OF IOWA No. 18–1280 Filed June 28, 2019 JOSHUA VENCKUS, Appellee, vs. CITY OF IOWA CITY; ANDREW RICH; JOHNSON COUNTY, IOWA; ANNE LAHEY; NAEDA ELLIOTT; and DANA CHRISTIANSEN, Appellants. Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Johnson County, Chad Kepros, Judge. Interlocutory appeal from the denial of motions to dismiss claims arising out of an allegedly wrongful prosecution. AFFIRMED IN PART, REVERSED IN PART, AND REMANDED. Robert M. Livingston and Kristopher K. Madsen of Stuart Tinley Law Firm, LLP, Council Bluffs, and Susan D. Nehring, Assistant County Attorney, Iowa City, for appellants Johnson County, Anne Lahey, Naeda Elliott, and Dana Christiansen. Eric R. Goers and Susan Dulek, Assistant City Attorneys, for appellants City of Iowa City and Andrew Rich. Martin A. Diaz, Swisher, and M. Victoria Cole, Cedar Rapids, for appellee. 2 Alan R. Ostergren, Muscatine, for amici curiae Iowa County Attorneys Association and Iowa State Association of Counties. Joel E. Fenton of Law Offices of Joel E. Fenton, PLC, Des Moines, for amicus curiae Iowa Association for Justice. 3 McDONALD, Justice. Joshua Venckus was charged with sexual abuse in the second degree and acquitted. Following acquittal, Venckus filed this civil action against the police investigator, the prosecutors, and the municipalities that investigated and prosecuted the criminal case. Venckus asserted common law claims and state constitutional claims against the defendants. The defendants moved to dismiss Venckus’s claims on the grounds the defendants were immune from suit, the claims were time barred, and the state constitutional claims were disallowed because an adequate nonconstitutional remedy existed. The district court denied the defendants’ motions to dismiss, and we granted the defendants’ applications for interlocutory appeal. I. This court reviews rulings on motions to dismiss for the correction of legal error. Godfrey v. State, 898 N.W.2d 844, 847 (Iowa 2017). To the extent that we review constitutional claims, the standard of review is de novo. See McGill v. Fish, 790 N.W.2d 113, 116–17 (Iowa 2010). In reviewing the ruling, “we accept all well-[pleaded] facts in the petition as true.” Godfrey, 898 N.W.2d at 847. II. In February 2013, Venckus resided in Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa. On the weekend of February 15–17, Venckus left Iowa City and spent the weekend at his parents’ home in Chicago, Illinois. While Venckus was in Chicago, Venckus’s roommates hosted a party at their residence. After the party ended, a man broke into the residence and sexually assaulted an intoxicated and incapacitated woman who had remained in the home. The woman managed to escape during the assault and obtain assistance. 4 Iowa City Police Department Investigator Andrew Rich was the principal investigator assigned to the case. The victim reported a single assailant. The police found a wallet outside a window well of the residence. The wallet belonged to Ryan Lee Markley. The police found Markley’s handprint on the basement window used for entry. The police found a boot print matching Markley’s boot on a chair underneath the window. The police recovered a marijuana pipe stolen ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals