Tag: Iowa Department of Transportation

NFG! Court Dismisses CDL Hours of Service Violation

The State cited our client for a log book violation discovered during a weigh scale inspection.   We defended the case on the merits, but also raised challenges to the DOT officer’s notarization of the complaint at the close of the state’s case. The trial court just issued a ruling on our motion for judgment of acquittal two months after trial.  Good things come to those who wait! The court dismissed the citation because of an improper notarization. That’s a NFG. 

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PBT Log Out of Date = License Saved and OWI Avoided

Fort Dodge, Webster County, Iowa.  GRL Law’s investigation revealed that the arresting officer failed to keep his Preliminary Breath Test (PBT) devise properly calibrated and documented as required by Iowa law.  The officer based his request for a breath sample at the station upon the PBT test result.  Failure to comply with the calibration, documentation and reporting requirements required that the judge disregard the preliminary breath sample result.  Without that result, the officer did not have the legal requirements to invoke the procedures of Iowa’s implied consent law.  As a consequence of all of this, the Iowa DOT could not […]

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Consequences of Marijuana Possession in a Commercial Motor Vehicle

The drug defense attorneys at GRL have blogged before on the pitfalls of being stopped by police with marijuana in your personal vehicle.  Fortunately, Iowa no longer suspends your driving privileges for drug convictions. Does this mean you can keep personal use quantities in the sleeper area of a semi truck? In a word, no.  Not unless, of course, you are looking to have your CDL privileges disqualified for six months. That’s right. You will lose your privilege to drive a commercial motor vehicle if convicted of most simple possession offenses.   Marijuana, amphetamines or any narcotic drug will do the […]

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