Tag: drug charge defense

Posted on December 26, 2024December 26, 2024
Colin Murphy
GRL Law, Recent Results

GRL Caps Brilliant 2024 with Felony Drug Case WIN

Frequent visitors to the GRL Law Blog are no doubt familiar with the firm’s successes throughout 2024. But did you know about the most recent multi-drug felony dismissal from early December? It’s an absolute banger. Our client faced no fewer than 6 felony drug charges following a raid by members of the DMPD Vice and Narcotics Control Unit. And a looming sentencing recommendation for prison. Undeterred, the drug defense attorneys at GRL Law rolled up their sleeves and went to work. Cracks soon appeared in the four corners of the search warrant that led to the raid. And when presented […]

Posted on September 12, 2024November 18, 2024
Colin Murphy
Articles, GRL Law

Murphy Presents at 2024 ISBA Seminar

On September 12, 2024 Colin Murphy presented at the annual Iowa State Bar Association’s Bridge the Gap Seminar in Des Moines. The presentation focused on recurring issues in drugged driving cases. In particular, Colin demonstrated how defense attorneys can defend against OWI-drug charges involving marijuana. The drug defense attorneys at GRL Law frequently speak at these events to educate both the bench and bar on emerging legal issues.

Drug Charges Dismissed Following Suppression Win

When it comes to warrantless searches, the drug crime attorneys at GRL Law really know their stuff. A recent example from North Iowa shows just how they leverage their knowledge to secure a dismissal by shining a bright light on illegal police conduct. Our client was the passenger in a vehicle that was parked one minute past the deadline in a city park. Rather than simply wave on the driver, police decided to engage the occupants instead and request identification. When the driver rolled down the window, the officer smelled marijuana. Now, the driver owned up to a vape pen […]

Felony OWI Amended to Public Intoxication

Follow the process. That’s what the drunk driving defense lawyers at GRL Law do with every OWI. We meticulously sift through every bit of evidence in a case. Every second of video. Each word of an officer’s narrative. All in search of a defense. And when we find that gold nugget? It can change everything. Take a recent felony OWI matter in southern Iowa. The Iowa State Patrol claimed our client “refused” a urine test for marijuana metabolites. The stakes were definitely high. Felony OWI convictions can result in lengthy prison or jail sentences and long license revocations. By applying […]

Posted on October 5, 2023October 6, 2023
Robert Rehkemper
Recent Results

Iowa’s Overdose Protection Law Results in Dismissal

Waukee, Dallas County, Iowa. Iowa’s overdose protection law was utilized to secure a dismissal of Possession and drug Paraphernalia charges for a client of GRL Law. What was very nearly a tragedy, ultimately had a happy ending. GRL Law’s client unknowingly ingested Fentanyl when consuming another product and immediately began suffering overdose symptoms. Thankfully friends immediately summoned emergency assistance to assist. Medical treatment was provided but, apparently unaware that no evidence obtained from emergency responses to these calls may be used to charge an individual, law enforcement charged GRL’s client with possession of a controlled substances. Thankfully GRL’s client made […]

Felony Drug Charges Dismissed After Deputy Whiffs on Odor

When law enforcements applies for a search warrant based on the odor of marijuana, they must describe to the magistrate how they know recognize the odor. Things like training, experience, etc., in drug interdiction are critically important to establish probable cause to issue the warrant. What happens when the application is silent on training and experience? The drug crime attorneys at GRL Law recently convinced a district court in northwest Iowa to dismiss felony drug charges following a search warrant raid. A deputy sheriff claimed to have detected the odor of burnt marijuana coming from inside a residence during an […]

Drug Charges Thrown Out After GRL Challenges Search of Commercial Motor Vehicle

In what may be the first ruling of its kind in Buchanan County, a GRL client is a free man today after the district court there suppressed the search of his semi truck and dismissed all charges. At issue was the Level II inspection criteria that many counties with weight stations impermissibly use to justify searches for “alcohol and drugs.” GRL previously covered this topic here. CDL drivers are usually at the mercy of DOT officers and state troopers who believe all closed containers in the truck cabin are subject to search. To be sure, commercial trucking is certainly a […]

FMCSA Level II Inspections for Alcohol and Drugs

The drug crime attorneys at GRL have seen our fair share of searches involving commercial motor vehicles. Whether its a random stop on the highway or the weight station, DOT officers will seize the opportunity to search closed containers in the truck cab under the authority for inspecting closely regulating industries. They will tell the driver the search is for receipts and permits and the like. But you should know it is for alcohol and drugs instead. The DOT claims it has the authority to search your mini-fridge, Igloo coolers, personal belongings, etc., based on the reference to “alcohol and […]

4/20 Conviction for Drug Paraphernalia Reversed on Appeal

The drug crime attorneys at GRL were in the news again recently after a successful appeal ruling. We persuaded the district court that a Benton County magistrate judge made a mistake in finding a container with marijuana residue constituted drug paraphernalia as that term is defined in Iowa Code section 124.414. We proved that substantial evidence did not support the interpretation of the paraphernalia statute as it applied to this container. Had the county instead charged it under the local municipal ordinance, which is much broader than the statute, then things might have turned out differently. It pays to know […]

Court Grants GRL Motion to Dismiss Drug Charge

On November 28, 2022, the district court in Pocahontas County granted our application to dismiss a possession charge based on a violation of the one-year speedy trial provisions in Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 2.33. We were able to demonstrate that the state did not bring our client to trial within one year of his plea of not guilty and good cause did not exist to continue the prosecution under the circumstances. GRL took over the defense of this case from another firm and stood ready to defend the charge based on a constructive possession defense. We believed there was […]