Iowa

Iowa Supreme Court justice asked to recuse himself from divorce appeal over alleged affair

Published

8 months ago

April 15, 2024

Iowa Supreme Court justice asked to recuse himself from divorce appeal over alleged affair

A Des Moines man appealing the outcome of his contested divorce has asked one of the state’s Supreme Court justices to take no part in the case because he says the justice had an affair with his wife.

John Len Mordini filed an appeal Tuesday challenging the final disposition of his divorce from Nichole Miras Mordini. Alongside his appeal, he filed a motion asking Supreme Court Justice Christopher McDonald to recuse himself because, he alleges, “the extramarital affair conducted by Justice McDonald and (Nichole Mordini) had a significant negative impact on the marriage and ultimately contributed to the breakdown in the bonds of matrimony.”

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McDonald, who according to his judicial biography is also married, has granted John Mordini’s request. In an amended order filed Thursday, he wrote that there was “a personal relationship” between himself and Nichole Mordini “more than a decade ago.”

The recusal motion does not specify when the alleged affair occurred, but John Mordini said in an email the couple have been married more than 20 years.

John Mordini, who is representing himself, otherwise declined to comment to avoid jeopardizing his appeal. An attorney for Nichole Mordini also declined to comment.

An Iowa Judicial Branch spokesperson said McDonald declined to comment beyond the court filings, pointing to judicial ethics rules against judges or their staff commenting on pending cases.

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Jeremy Fogel, a retired judge and legal ethics expert with the University of California, Berkeley Law School, reviewed the filings at the Register’s request and said that Iowa, like other states, requires judges to disqualify themselves “in any proceeding in which the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”

“Justice McDonald evidently determined that based on his prior relationship with Ms. Mordini and the nature of the appeal, Iowa’s version of that provision applies here. His decision to recuse isn’t an admission that he couldn’t be impartial; rather, it’s a conclusion that a reasonable person might question whether he could,” Fogel told the Register, adding that McDonald’s decision “isn’t surprising and appears to be an appropriate application of the provision.”

The pending appeal will not necessarily be decided by the Supreme Court, which refers a large share of cases to the intermediate Iowa Court of Appeals. McDonald’s recusal means he also will not be involved in deciding whether the Supreme Court should retain the appeal.

McDonald was appointed to the Iowa Supreme Court in 2019 by Gov. Kim Reynolds. Before that, he served on the Iowa Court of Appeals and as a district judge.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.

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Iowa

Eastern Iowa’s most popular baby names for 2024

Published

1 hour ago

December 16, 2024

Press Room

Eastern Iowa’s most popular baby names for 2024

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) – UnityPoint Health hospitals across eastern Iowa have released the list of the most popular baby names for 2024.

The hospitals create the list using data from UnityPoint Health – St. Luke’s, Finley, and Allen Hospitals in Cedar Rapids, Dubuque, and Waterloo.

Here are the top five most popular baby names:

Top five girl’s names:

Charlotte
Evelyn
Harper
Amelia
Olivia

Top five boy’s names:

Henry
Oliver
Theodore
Jack
Jackson

Here’s a list broken down by hospital and city:

Cedar Rapids:

Girl’s names:

Evelyn
Charlotte
Harper
Amelia
Nova

Boys names:

Oliver
Henry
Silas
Owen
Asher

Dubuque:

Girl’s names:

Lainey
Eden
Amelia
Layla
Nora

Boy’s names:

Cooper
Henry
Beau
Oliver
Brooks

Waterloo:

Girl’s names:

Lainey
Nora
Adeline
Ava
Emerson

Boy’s names:

Ezra
Theodore
Emmett
Henry
Bennett

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Iowa

Iowa 104-57 New Orleans (Dec 15, 2024) Game Recap – ESPN

Published

9 hours ago

December 16, 2024

Press Room

Iowa 104-57 New Orleans (Dec 15, 2024) Game Recap – ESPN

IOWA CITY, Iowa — — Owen Freeman matched his career-best with 22 points and Iowa cruised to a 104-57 win over New Orleans on Sunday.

The Hawkeyes rebounded from their first home-court loss, falling 89-80 to No. 3 Iowa State on Thursday in the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series.

Brock Harding opened the game with a 3-pointer, but the Privateers answered with back-to-back layups from MJ Thomas and James White to take their only lead of the game, 4-3. Freeman answered with a layup and Payton Sandfort and Drew Thelwell each hit from deep to put Iowa in front for good and a 10-0 run made it 29-11 midway through the half.

Iowa (8-3) shot 62.7% from the field for the game (42 of 67), including 14 of 29 from beyond the arc. The Hawkeyes amassed 28 assists on 42 made baskets. Sandfort hit 3 of 4 from beyond the arc and finished with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal. Josh Dix and Brock Harding each added 13 points, with Harding collecting six assists, two steals and a blocked shot. Pryce Sandfort added 10 points off the bench.

New Orleans, playing its first game in more than a week, was 25 of 67 from the field (37.3%) and was just 4 of 24 from long range. White paced the Privateers (2-7) with 24 points, six rebounds and two assists. Thomas added 14 points.

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Iowa

Iowa women’s wrestling crowns three champions at North Central College Open

Published

16 hours ago

December 15, 2024

Press Room

Iowa women’s wrestling crowns three champions at North Central College Open

Iowa women’s wrestling took a good portion of its squad to the North Central Open on Sunday, securing three individual titles from Nanea Estrella, Macey Kilty and Kylie Welker.

Bringing 13 wrestlers to the top division of the tournament, with Danni Swihart competing in the B-Division, 11 Hawkeyes finished on the podium in the top division. Even without several starters, the Hawkeyes took second behind only North Central’s mostly full squad.

Iowa’s stars who made the trip to Naperville, Illinois shined, as Estrella, Kilty and Welker combined to go 14-0. They outscored their opponents 131-1 combined.

Alivia White was a surprise, racing to take second at 203 pounds. She defeated teammate Katja Osteen by fall on her way to the finals. Even without Jaycee Foeller, the Hawkeyes had White, Osteen and Samantha Calkins all place at the tournament at 203 pounds.

Accounting for only the results from the A-Division, which housed top wrestlers from each team, North Central had 166.5 team points to Iowa’s 136.5.

It’s hard to compare Iowa and North Central, given the Hawkeyes and CArdinals had limited lineups. The Hawkeyes were without Sterling Dias, Brianna and Emilie Gonzalez, Skye Realin, Reese Larramendy, Kennedy Blades and Foeller to name a few. North Central did not have former Hawkeye Bella Mir or 203-pound No. 2 Traeh Haynes for example as well.

Regardless, having two champions and five finalists suggests the Cardinals will be a challenger once again come the postseason to the Hawkeyes.

Here are the individual results for each wrestler for the Hawkeyes.

Iowa women’s wrestling results from North Central Open

Rianne Murphy – 2nd at 103 pounds (3-1)
Val Solorio – 3rd at 110 pounds (5-1)
Cali Leng – 6th at 124 pounds (3-3)
Ava Rose – DNP at 124 pounds (1-2)
Allie Baudhuin – DNP at 131 pounds (1-2)
Emmily Patneaud – 6th at 131 pounds (2-3)
Nanea Estrella – 1st at 138 pounds (4-0)
Cadence Diduch – 3rd at 138 pounds (5-1)
Danni Swihart (B-Division) – 5th at 138 pounds (3-2)
Macey Kilty – 1st at 145 pounds (4-0)
Kylie Welker – 1st at 180 pounds (6-0)
Samantha Calkins – 4th at 207 pounds (4-2)
Alivia White – 2nd at 207 pounds (3-1)
Katja Osteen – 5th at 207 pounds (3-2, 3-1 vs. non-Hawkeyes)

Match-by-match results can be found on trackwrestling.com

This story was updated to add new information.

Eli McKown covers high school sports and wrestling for the Des Moines Register. Contact him at Emckown@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @EMcKown23.

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