Tag: DUI Lawyer

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.    

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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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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 […]

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Marijuana OWI Dismissed

GRL recently secured another NFG when the Bremer County Attorney dismissed a marijuana OWI on the eve of trial. While there were a number of problems with the state’s case, the one that tipped the scales the most was the officer’s plain view observation of “marijuana bud” in the passenger compartment.  That turned out to be a piece of Lactuca sativa otherwise know as . . . Wait for it. Lettuce. That’s right.  He seized that other green leafy substance popular with salads and wraps.  And framed the rest of his investigation from the standpoint of marijuana impairment. At least he […]

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NFG! First Three-Word Verdict of 2023 in Guthrie County OWI

A unanimous Guthrie County jury returned the first NFG of the year yesterday following a two-day OWI trial. It took just under 30 minutes for the jury to say GRL’s client was not guilty. Two seasoned Guthrie County Sheriff deputies testified that they believed the driver was intoxicated based on their training and experience. And the State argued the jury could consider his eventual refusal to submit to breath testing was a tacit admission that he would blow over the legal limit. As you have come to expect, GRL took another very difficult defense case and turned it on its […]

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CDL Saved After Urine Test Results Suppressed

In the process of saving a CDL from being disqualified, the impaired driving attorneys at GRL exposed a potential flaw in the implied consent advisory for commercial motor vehicles. The advisory provides that commercial driving privileges will be disqualified if the drivers tests over 0.04 for alcohol or refuses testing while operating a CMV. However, it says nothing about a DQ for a positive urine test. So, is a commercial driver’s decision to consent to urine testing reasoned and informed under the circumstances?  We think not. As a result, we were able to not only suppress the urine test, but […]

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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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Asking for a Blood Test is Not a Refusal

Many people arrested for operating while intoxicate have some idea that they have a right to obtain and independent test but they are not exactly clear on what it takes to exercise that right.  Fortunately, for a client of attorney Matt Lindholm, police officers also don’t entirely understand this right.  Thus, when this client was asked to provide a breath sample and he asked if he could get a blood test, the officer’s decision to consider this request a refusal was not a legally valid and enforceable refusal as he should have explained to the client the right to get […]

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Rolled to NFG

Wayne County, Iowa.  Attorney Matt Lindholm (aka The Wolf) recently obtained a NFG (Not Friggin Guilty) verdict from a Wayne County jury for a client facing an OWI second offense charge.  The client was charged following a roll over accident.  At trial officers testified that the client’s speech was slurred, he had blood shot eyes, failed the horizontal gaze nystagmus test, and refused to submit to a breath test.  Video was shown to the jury depicting the client’s speech, his eyes, and the circumstances surrounding his refusal to submit to a breath test (i.e. because he was unable to speak […]

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Independent Test Requests Mean Something

Madison County, Iowa.  Attorney Matt Lindholm (aka The Wolf), recently found success for his client who was facing a charge of operating while intoxicated.  The client requested an independent test following the submission to the breath test at the station but the officer who arrested the client dictated where that independent test would be conducted.  Attorney Lindholm filed a motion to suppress arguing that the breath test results were not admissible because she was not allowed an “independent test” since the officer dictated where the test was going to be done.  The judge agreed and suppressed the breath test results.  […]

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