Tag: Drunk Driving Rights

Do You Mind If I Pat You Down Real Quick? The Forgotten Requirements of a Protective Pat Down

“Do you have anything that is going to stick me, poke me, or hurt me?  Do you mind if I pat you down real quick just to make sure?”  This is a routine line used by almost every law enforcement officer during any interaction with a citizen, especially during any sort of traffic stop where a driver is asked to exit the vehicle.  Most people acquiesce to this sort of suspicionless violation into their bodily integrity without knowing full-well what they are getting into. A “pat down” by law enforcement is better explained as a police officer running his or […]

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Search Warrant for Blood? Call GRL Law

There was a time when the impaired driving defense lawyers at GRL Law only encountered search warrants for blood in felony OWI cases.  Especially those involving serious injuries. Those were the days.  The police no longer reserve search warrants for just serious injury accidents.  Now, it seems they pursue blood warrants for all types of cases.  Refuse a preliminary breath test with a prior OWI conviction on your record?  Transported to the hospital where breath testing is not available?  What about the odor of marijuana or the discovery of medication not prescribed to you? It’s common practice today for the […]

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OWI Amended to Public Intoxication Preserves CDL

Another result of our relentless pretrial discovery efforts is now on display in Jasper County.  After painstakingly reviewing every word of the implied consent video, we discovered that our client asked for an attorney.  The officer did not honor this request, but instead requested a breath sample for testing on the DataMaster DMT.  Our client refused. Iowa law provides a limited right to consult with a lawyer while being detained by police.   The prosecutor amended the OWI because the breath test refusal would not be admissible due to the violation. The result?  A simple misdemeanor.  No jail.  A fine of […]

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Second Offense OWI Amended Following Suppression of Test Refusal

To the impaired driving defense attorneys at GRL Law, the name of the game is relentless pretrial discovery.  It’s what we do.  Essentially, if there’s a defense, then we’ll find it and leverage it to produce uncommon results. A recent OWI Second Offense charge in western Iowa provides a perfect example of this approach.  After exhaustively reviewing 911 calls, dispatch logs, the dash camera and body camera videos and cross-examining the officer at the DOT hearing (yes, we vigorously defend DOT revocations at hearing), we discovered: The basis for the stop, a “verbal domestic,” was questionable; The officer had no […]

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CDL Saved After OWI Amended to Public Intoxication

The impaired driving attorneys at GRL Law successfully negotiated another resolution to preserve a client’s CDL.  After winning the DOT hearing, we leveraged that result by convincing the county attorney to amend the OWI to public intoxication with a minimum fine of $105 and no jail time.  The DOT would have disqualified the client’s CDL had he pleaded guilty as charged.  The negotiation saved his commercial driving privileges. A tip of the hat to the county attorney who was willing to reevaluate the charge in light of our efforts with the DOT.

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GRL Saves Driver’s License

A Story County client was arrested for OWI and taken to the police station to provide a sample of his breath.  While reviewing the body camera footage, the arresting officer read Client the implied consent advisory and told Client he could make phone calls.  Client was later asked if he would agree to take the breath test, to which he consented.  Five minutes after providing the breath sample, the officer asked Client to sign the the form stating that he would consent to the test. Iowa law requires that an officer make a written request for a chemical test prior […]

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Breath Test Suppressed After Officer Fails to Explain Rights

Iowa provides a limited statutory right to speak with a family member or attorney before submitting to breath testing under Iowa Code section 804.20.  Most of the time, the driver must first trigger the right by asking for a phone call while in custody. In this case, the officer instead volunteered the opportunity to make “a call” after invoking implied consent.  Thinking this was his one and only call, our client wisely requested an explanation.  The officer repeated his offer.  And then added the call could be placed either before or after chemical testing. Here’s where the officer erred. Section […]

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GRL Saves CDL After Officer Unreasonably Limits Phone Calls

When your CDL is at risk for failing a breath test, you need the expertise of the impaired driving defense attorneys at GRL Law. Merely three weeks after suppressing a breath test to save a commercial driver’s license, the firm’s efforts have rescued another CDL holder, this time through the DOT appeal process. The administrative law judge found that the arresting officer provided our client only 14 minutes to place phone calls prior to chemical testing.  When the last call attempt went to voice mail at the stroke of the deadline, the officer exclaimed “Times Up!” and took his phone […]

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OWI 2nd offense amended to Reckless Driving

Shelby County, Iowa- A GRL Law client was stopped for allegedly driving while suspended as he pulled into his driveway.  The officer ran the client through field sobriety tests and had him blow into a preliminary breath testing device which registered a result under .08.  Even though the client blew under the legal limit, the officer believed that he was under the influence of some drug other than alcohol without any specific basis for believing so.  The client then provided a breath test, indicating that he was slightly above the legal limit.  He was charged with open container, OWI 2nd […]

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GRL Saves CDL with DOT WIN

The drug defense attorneys at GRL Law prove once again that preparation is everything when it comes to implied consent testing and DOT administrative hearings.  This is especially true when it involves professional CDL drivers and forensic drug testing. In this case, a DOT officer assigned to an I-35 weigh station in North Iowa believed he had reasonable grounds to invoke implied consent and request a urine sample under Iowa Code section 321J.6 based on the discovery of a small amount of marijuana and an admission to smoking the previous evening.  When the sample came back positive for non-impairing metabolites […]

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