Tag: drug charge defense

Felony Drug Charges Dismissed After New Garbage Rip Law Struck

Hey, Senator Dawson and Representative Holt!  It’s your boy, Murph.  Didn’t I tell you in March that this wouldn’t turn out well? I’m talking about your unconstitutional efforts to restore the illegal practice of warrantless garbage searches in Iowa.  You know, the police tactic that we struck down last year in State v. Wright? The first district court to consider your magnum opus found it unconstitutional. That’s right. The State even dismissed the charges the following day. Think about it.  It took less than 24 hours for the State to decide it wouldn’t defend your garbage on appeal. And who […]

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Objections to Inadmissible Evidence in Drug Crime Trials Must be Specific

On September 21, 2022 the Iowa Court of Appeals affirmed felony convictions for possession with intent to deliver methamphetamine and drug tax stamps in State v. Hansel. The ruling provides a great reminder to drug crime attorneys on the proper way to object to evidence, especially “prior bad acts” testimony. In this case, the arresting officer volunteered the defendant had numerous outstanding warrants including one for assault.  Defense counsel simply interjected, “Your Honor,” without making a specific objection.  It was enough to prevent any further prior bad acts from entering the record, but the toothpaste was obviously now out of […]

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THC Vape Charges Dismissed After Search of Mail Suppressed

It goes without saying that postal service investigations rarely turn out well for those who receive marijuana products by mail.  Drug dogs and search warrants will conspire to reveal the contents of suspicious packages before they reach the mailbox.  At that point, the recipients face a Hobson’s choice: either snitch on friends or cop to a felony. What can you do when neither is an option? You guessed it. You get the drug crime lawyers at GRL Law involved. Here’s an example of how we can flip the script on these mailed drug cases that don’t involve the odor of […]

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Drug Charge Dismissed After GRL Challenges Marijuana Identification

GRL recently put its knowledge of drug identification procedures to the test in a case involving alleged THC vape liquid. Police seized a vape cart during a traffic stop.  Field testing of the liquid extract showed a positive color change indicating the possible presence of marijuana. Frequent readers of the GRL Law blog know that field testing can mistake CBD for marijuana.  We’ve discussed this phenomenon here. This is where things get interesting. Police didn’t send the cart to the state crime lab.  Instead, they sent it to a local department that employs an officer with training in marijuana identification.  […]

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Warning! Warrantless Searches of Curbside Garbage Resume July 1, 2022

Readers of the GRL Law blog are no doubt familiar with the firm’s efforts to protect the privacy rights of Iowans in State v. Wright.  That’s the 2021 ruling from the Iowa Supreme Court that banned police from trespassing on your curbside garbage and searching it without a warrant. Predictably, the law enforcement community threw a tantrum after the ruling.  And they ran kicking and screaming to some legislators at the statehouse who obviously can’t appreciate the difference between the Iowa Bill of Rights and the Communist Manifesto. The result? Effective tomorrow, July 1, 2022, anyone can scavenge your garbage.  […]

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Reciprocity Defense for Medical Marijuana Results in Two Dismissals

Frequent visitors to the GRL Law Blog are no doubt familiar with our approach to defending medical marijuana charges. The drug defense lawyers recently raised this reciprocity defense in two separate cases.  The first dealt with raw cannabis flower purchased in another state with a valid medical card.  The other concerned edibles. In both cases, the court entered an order granting the defense and dismissing the charge at the state’s cost. We believe these are the first rulings of their kind in the state on the issue of reciprocity. Charged with possession of marijuana for out-of-state medical marijuana?  GRL knows […]

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GRL Successfully Raises Medical Marijuana Reciprocity Defense to Dismiss Drug Charge

Frequent readers of our blog are certainly familiar with the firm’s reciprocity argument regarding medical marijuana.  Normally, the State concedes this issue and voluntarily dismisses the charge.  However, the Iowa State Patrol trooper involved here objected to a dismissal.  So, we had the opportunity to finally pitch our argument to the district court. Our client held a valid medical card from Missouri.  The cannabis flower seized by the trooper was medical marijuana. The court dismissed the charge and found that Chapter 124E provides reciprocity for out-of-state medical marijuana. Charged with possession of medical marijuana?  Call the drug crime lawyers at […]

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Drug Felonies Dismissed Following Unconstitutional Garbage RIp

Earlier this year GRL convinced the Iowa Supreme Court to outlaw the police tactic of warrantless garbage searches in State v. Wright. We haven’t rested on our laurels since the ruling.  Instead, we got to work in several counties where these trash rips resulted in felony charges. A recent case in southeastern Iowa was no exception.  The facts were essentially identical to Wright.  Police illegally trespassed onto our client’s garbage containers set out for collection to scavenge trash.  A search of this trash led to a search warrant to search our client’s home resulting in two drug felony charges. However, […]

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THE BEST & #1 CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY!

Where do I even start!?!? The best council I’ve ever needed or had represent me. Not only did he do an amazing job with the task at hand …. But he both extremely professional, and down to earth at the same time. He treated me like a regular human being, which I can’t say enough about. He had a large part of my future in his hands, and those hands were kid gloves to me, but strong and tough when representing me. He took care of almost all things needed to deal with my tough circumstances, which allowed me to […]

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