Polk County, Iowa. After a nearly four year court battle, the Iowa Supreme Court has finally reversed a Boating While Intoxicated conviction in State v. Pettijohn. GRL Law attorney Grant Gangestad successfully argued that the breath test evidence that was obtained in this case was obtained without a warrant and in violation of the client's rights under the search and seizure clause of the Iowa Constitution. The case was monumental in Iowa search and seizure law and sets the stage for future litigants to be able to challenge warrantless searches in other contexts, including BWI, OWI, and other warrantless search situations. The client's case was eventually remanded to the district court, where the BWI case was dismissed and the client served none of the 60 days in jail that he was initially sentenced to.
