Readers of the blog are no doubt aware of GRL Law’s work on warrantless garbage searches. Earlier this summer, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled the police practice unconstitutional in State v. Wright, but remanded the case to the district court for a second look at the warrant. This time the district court could not consider […]
Maybe the timing is coincidental, but GRL Law secured a dismissal of all charges in State v. Wright on the same day the Iowa Supreme Court reaffirmed the constitutional underpinning of trash rips in State v. Kuuttila. One might think that this line of cases would be the last word on the issue. But if […]
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 […]
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 […]
Iowa law defines “drug paraphernalia” to include equipment used to inhale a controlled substance. However, the definition excepts those items used in combination with the lawful use of a controlled substance. How should the law treat smoking accessories used to inhale “medical cannabidiol” or the out-of-state equivalent? We put this question to the test recently […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
In what may be the first ruling of its kind in Buchanan County, a GRL client is a free man today after the district court there suppressed the search of his semi truck and dismissed all charges. At issue was the Level II inspection criteria that many counties with weight stations impermissibly use to justify […]
