State of Iowa v. Destiny Bailey Dweh

• Court: Court of Appeals of Iowa
• Decided: April 15, 2026
• Docket: 25-0844
• Status: Published

Opinion

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA _______________

No. 25-0844 Filed April 15, 2026 _______________

State of Iowa, Plaintiff–Appellee, v. Destiny Bailey Dweh, Defendant–Appellant. _______________

Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Polk County, The Honorable Ashley Stewart, Judge. _______________

AFFIRMED _______________

Katherine R.J. Scott of New Point Law Firm, PLC, Ames, attorney for appellant.

Brenna Bird, Attorney General, and Katherine Wenman, Assistant Attorney General, attorneys for appellee. _______________

Considered without oral argument by Ahlers, P.J., and Buller and Sandy, JJ. Opinion by Buller, J.

1 BULLER, Judge.

Clive police found Destiny Dweh driving a stolen vehicle. She pled guilty to operating a motor vehicle without the owner’s consent, an aggravated misdemeanor in violation of Iowa Code section 714.7 (2024). The district court granted her a deferred judgment and placed her on probation.

Five months later, a lengthy report of probation violations was filed, detailing among other violations Dweh’s failure to attend required programming, failure to pay fines or fees, positive drug tests, and refusals to drug test. Dweh stipulated to multiple violations and was held in contempt, subject to purge if she completed substance-abuse and mental-health evaluations, attended programming, and complied with terms of probation.

Two months after that, another report of violation detailed that Dweh failed to complete the required substance-abuse evaluation, would not follow mental-health treatment recommendations, and had another positive drug test. She again stipulated to the violations.

Following a contested hearing, the district court revoked Dweh’s deferred judgment and ordered her incarceration. The court emphasized Dweh’s multiple probation violations, unmet mental-health needs, noncompliance with treatment, and refusal to abide by terms of probation.

Dweh appeals, claiming the court failed to adequately consider her lack of criminal history and mental health. But our review is for abuse of discretion. State v. Covel, 925 N.W.2d 183, 187 (Iowa 2019). And the court was not required to name each mitigating factor. State v. Boltz, 542 N.W.2d 9, 11 (Iowa Ct. App. 1995). We discern no abuse of discretion given Dweh’s repeated probation violations.

AFFIRMED.