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State v. Sanders11/23/2005
matter jurisdiction to consider either of these issues. Specifically, the State argues that Sanders's notice of appeal mentions only sentencing issues and makes no reference to the issues he now relies on for appellate relief.
Appellate jurisdiction "'is limited, in the sense that it is contingent or conditional upon timely appeal by statutory method and within statutory time.'" Jensen v. State, 312 N.W.2d 581, 582 (Iowa 1981) (quoting Brock v. Dickinson County Bd. of Adjustment, 287 N.W.2d 566, 568 (Iowa 1981)). Iowa Rule of Appellate Procedure 6.101 states that an appeal of a criminal action shall be taken in the same manner as an appeal of a civil action. Iowa Rule of Appellate Procedure 6.6(1) specifies the following concerning the notice of appeal:
An appeal . . . is taken and perfected by filing a notice with the clerk of court where the order, judgment, or decree was entered, signed by appellant or appellant's attorney. It shall specify the parties taking the appeal and the decree, judgment, order, or part thereof appealed from.
An appellant must substantially comply with these rules so that "the notice does not confuse, mislead, or prejudice the appellee." McBride v. City of Sioux City, 444 N.W.2d 85, 88 (Iowa 1989). " notice of appeal must sufficiently describe the judgment or order appealed from so as to leave no doubt as to its identity." Schrader v. Sioux City, 167 N.W.2d 669, 672-73 (Iowa 1969). " igid adherence to the rule would serve no useful purpose." Citizen First Nat'l Bank v. Turin, 431 N.W.2d 185, 188 (Iowa 1988) (citing Hawkeye Sec. Ins. Co. v. Ford Motor Co., 199 N.W.2d 373, 378 (Iowa 1972)).
Our supreme court has stated:
as long as the opposing party is not misled to his irreparable harm, a notice of appeal which can reasonably be construed as an attempt in good faith to appeal from an appealable decision is sufficient; and, as a rule the notice is sufficient if it reasonably shows that an appeal is intended and the judgment, order, or decree appealed from substantially states the other facts required by the statute to be shown.
Iowa Dep't of Human Servs. v. Stewart, 579 N.W.2d 321, 323-24 (Iowa 1998) (citing 4 C.J.S. Appeal & Error § 371, at 421 (1993) (footnotes omitted); accord 5 Am. Jur. 2d Appellate Review § 327, at 98-99 (1995)). Otherwise stated, "if one can infer from the notice of appeal an intent to appeal from the judgment and the appellee has not been misled, the appeal will be entertained." Blink v. McNabb, 287 N.W.2d 596, 598-99 (Iowa 1980); Citizen First Nat'l Bank, 431 N.W.2d at 188. "This interpretation of the rule is consistent with our preference for disposition of cases on the merits and not on mere technicalities." Id. (citing Hawkeye Sec., 199 N.W.2d at 378).
In Citizen's First National Bank, the court found a notice of appeal sufficient even though it omitted an issue argued in the appellant's brief and referenced a judgment that did not pertain to the omitted issue. 431 N.W.2d at 188. In that case, the appellee had "not claimed that prejudice resulted from this alleged defect nor that they were misled." Id. The supreme court held that " ithout these two elements, we cannot find the notice was insufficient." Id. (citing In re Marriage of Schissel, 292 N.W.2d 421, 423 (Iowa 1980)).
Although the content of and omissions from Sanders's notice of appeal are undisputed, the State fails to demonstrate how it was confused, misled, or prejudiced. In the absence of such a showing, we are unable to conclude Sanders's notice of appeal was insufficient to invoke our subject matter jurisdiction.
III. Sufficiency of the Evidence
Challenges to the
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