New Hampton, Chickasaw County, Iowa. A traffic stop for speeding by an out-of-state driver on Interstate 35 led to a warrantless probable cause search of the vehicle based on the odor of marijuana. Deputies located significant quantities of marijuana flower in a glass jar in the passenger compartment and charged our client with both felony and misdemeanor possession under Iowa Code section 124.401. The class D felony charge was punishable by an indeterminate term of prison of up to 5 years and a fine of $7,500.
Both the stop and the search were legal under Iowa law. However, as a resident of Michigan, our client has been permitted to grow up to 12 plants and possess up to 2.5 ounces of cannabis flower since 2018 for both recreational and medicinal use.
Here, I leveraged these Michigan rights along with a bit of creative defense lawyering regarding the medicinal use of cannabis into a dismissal of both the felony and misdemeanor possession charges.
This is another great example of the lengths to which the drug defense attorneys at GRL Law will go to secure a favorable result for our client even in situations where we can’t suppress evidence seized by law enforcement.
