Tag: Drunk Driving Rights

Another Marijuana OWI Win!

The district court in northwest Iowa recently granted the State’s Motion to Dismiss following a ruling suppressing the results of a blood test obtained through implied consent. The drugged driving attorneys at GRL Law challenged the test results under Iowa Code section 321J.11, the state’s independent testing law. The state trooper originally requested a urine sample.  Our client agreed and also requested a blood sample. Under Iowa law, you can get an independent sample as long as you take the officer’s requested test. Rather than obtain both a urine and blood sample, however, the trooper simply changed his request to […]

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Never Disclose Prescription Medications to Law Enforcement During a Traffic Stop

Winterset, Madison County, Iowa.  GRL has been warning anyone who will listen NOT to disclose prescription medications to law enforcement during a traffic stop.  This most recent GRL NFG demonstrates precisely why this is.  GRL’s client provided a breath sample of .037 but disclosed that he was taking his non-controlled substance medication.  The urine test that GRL’s client consented to confirmed the presence of only the prescription medication.  A young and aggressive officer, fresh off of training for driving while drugged investigations, even with the test results, still charged GRL’s client with Operating While Intoxicated and Child Endangerment.  Thankfully, GRL […]

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Don’t Answer this Question During an OWI Traffic Stop

The drunk driving lawyers at GRL Law routinely advise people what to do during a traffic stop. For example, you should provide your license, registration and proof of insurance upon request.  And, if the officer asks you to step out of your car, then follow those directions. But when it comes to field sobriety tests, you can politely decline.  A preliminary breath test?  Sure, if they agree to show you the result. However, there is one question that you should never answer at the roadside. “So, on a scale of zero to ten, with zero being the most sober and […]

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Felony OWI Amended to Public Intoxication

The impaired driving defense attorneys at GRL get results.  A recent case in Mitchell County demonstrates how effective we can be when the stakes are highest. We recently took over a case from another attorney after the State refused to budge on a felony OWI and trial looked inevitable.  After unpacking it, we discovered several important facts that completely changed the dynamic of the case.  We went to work limiting the State’s evidence.  We requested the DataMaster DMT breath test data and noticed the State’s expert witness to appear on our behalf at trial. The result? On the eve of […]

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Crossing Fog Line Is NOT Reason to Believe Driver is Drunk

Atlantic, Cass County, Iowa. The Iowa Supreme Court confirmed what the Iowa Supreme Court said back in 2004, a single, isolated incident of a driver crossing over the fog line (solid white line on edge of road) does not create a sufficient reasonable suspicion that the driver is intoxicated. The facts in the case were captured by way of the Cass County Deputy’s squad car camera and showed that the defendant’s vehicle crossed over the fog line just once as it met the Deputy’s vehicle on a curve.  The Deputy turned around and followed the vehicle and did not observe […]

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The Law–Just Follow the Law

Polk County, Iowa.   A GRL client recently got an Operating While Intoxicated charge dismissed following a ruling by the court throwing out the breath test refusal.  Attorney Matt Lindholm was able to secure the dismissal for the client after showing that the preliminary breath testing device used in the case did not comply with Iowa’s calibration requirements.  In addition to the charge getting dismissed, the client was able to prevent any loss of his driver’s license.

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State Amends OWI to Public Intoxication on Eve of Trial

The state recently moved to amend a charge to public intoxication from OWI in a North Iowa case involving a test refusal. Why the amendment?  The drunk driving attorneys at GRL Law were prepared to show that our client, a lifetime smoker, never refused testing.   Instead, the officer deemed her to have refused after a third incomplete DataMaster DMT test.  The multiple incomplete tests were due to our client’s inability to provide an acceptable breath sample meeting all of the test parameters.  Nothing more. The officer could have instead requested that she submit a sample of blood or urine.  Those […]

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CDL Saved After State Amends OWI Charge

The drunk driving lawyers at GRL Law successfully negotiated yet another resolution to preserve a client’s CDL. After winning the DOT and suppression hearings, we leveraged those results by convincing the county attorney to amend the OWI to public intoxication and reckless driving with no jail time. The DOT would have disqualified the client’s CDL had he pleaded guilty as charged even though we prevented the implied consent revocation from taking effect. Our negotiation saved his commercial driving privileges after we won the DOT hearing. A shout out to the prosecutor who was willing to reevaluate the charge in light […]

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To Light or Not to Light

Boone County, Iowa.  A GRL client recently had an operating while intoxicated charge dismissed following a ruling by the court indicating that the stop of the clients vehicle violated the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution.  The client was stopped because the officer believed his license plate light was not illuminated.  However, attorney Matt Lindholm was able to break down the video footage from the patrol car camera and body camera to show various instances where the license plate was clearly illuminated.  As a result, all evidence obtained following the stop of the client’s vehicle was thrown out and […]

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