Daniel Nicodemus David Ray Tapscott v. Ryan Raynee Lynn Fariss
CourtCourt of Appeals of Iowa
Date FiledOctober 7, 2026
Docket25-1666
StatusPublished
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Full Opinion
IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF IOWA
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No. 25-1666
Filed October 7, 2026
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Daniel Nicodemus David Ray Tapscott,
Plaintiff–Appellant,
v.
Ryan Raynee Lynn Fariss,
Defendant–Appellee.
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Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Des Moines County,
The Honorable Wyatt Peterson, Judge.
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APPEAL DISMISSED
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Daniel N. Tapscott, Burlington, self-represented appellant.
Ryan Fariss, Burlington, self-represented appellee.
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Considered without oral argument
by Greer, P.J., Sandy, J., and Doyle, S.J.
Opinion by Sandy, J.
1
SANDY, Judge.
Daniel Tapscott petitioned for a protective order under Iowa Code
chapter 236 (2025) after he claimed his child’s mother, Ryan Fariss, injured
him during a custody exchange. The district court ultimately dismissed the
case and terminated the temporary protective order, determining that there
was insufficient evidence to prove domestic abuse occurred. Now Tapscott
appeals, challenging several aspects of the proceedings. However, Tapscott
has repeatedly failed to follow our rules of appellate procedure and failed to
respond to our order regarding suspected hallucinated case citations, so we
dismiss his appeal.
Tapscott’s first appellate brief was struck for failure to comply with
our rules of appellate procedure. Tapscott’s second brief was likewise
deficient, and that brief was struck for failure to comply with the rules. He
was then given an additional seven days to comply but was warned his failure
to substantially comply “may result in dismissal of the appeal.” Tapscott
ignored the order and failed to file an amended brief, so the supreme court
dismissed his appeal. Tapscott moved to reinstate the appeal, offered reasons
for his failure to comply with the court’s orders, and the supreme court
reinstated but specifically found that “[t]he court’s advisories and
admonitions regarding [Tapscott’s] previous briefs still apply,” and warned
that “failure to substantially comply with this order may result in dismissal of
the appeal.”
When Tapscott submitted his final brief, we discovered multiple
hallucinated citations in Tapscott’s appellant’s brief. Although we issued an
order asking Tapscott to provide the cases he relied on or to explain the
citations, Tapscott did not respond to our order. Based on these many
defects, we dismiss Tapscott’s appeal. See Iowa R. App. P. 6.1202(6); see also
2
In re R.A., No. 24-1629, 2025 WL 2793560, at *2–4 (Iowa Ct. App. Oct. 1,
2025) (striking the entirety of the mother’s reply brief as sanction for
hallucinated caselaw).
APPEAL DISMISSED.
3