Tag: OWI Lawyer

Should Hospitals Refuse to Comply with Blood Draw Warrants?

There is a growing trend in Iowa when it comes to OWI investigations, particularly those involving drugs other than alcohol. Peace officers are bypassing the standard implied consent procedures and seeking search warrants for blood instead. It’s not just for situations involving deaths or potentially fatal injuries.  Yes, there’s a law authorizing search warrants in those specific situations.  We’re talking here about regular, vanilla OWI traffic stops.  The run of the mill variety that happen every day across the state. Police have the discretion to apply for general search warrants even for ordinary cases if they want a blood sample […]

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Breath Test Suppressed After Deputy Misadvises CDL Holder

GRL Law received a ruling today that suppressed the results of a breath test taken by a CDL holder. We discovered the officer made a mistake during the implied consent advisory.  He advised the driver that a test failure results in a one-year disqualification, but a refusal results in a lifetime ban on his commercial driving privileges.  That’s not the law, of course, but the mistaken advisory provides a pretty compelling reason to consent, doesn’t it? The district court thought the same.  The driver’s consent was not the product of a reasoned and informed decision. That means the driver’s CDL […]

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Violation of Right to Contact Family Member Results in OWI Charge Being Dismissed

Humboldt County, Iowa- A GRL Law client was charged with OWI 1st offense. GRL attorney Grant Gangestad filed a motion to suppress evidence in the OWI prosecution based upon the officer’s violation of the client’s statutory right to contact a family member.  After reviewing the video, the prosecutor agreed to stipulate to suppression of the breath test result and amend the charge to a public intoxication and reckless driving. Client avoided jail time, a license revocation, SR-22 insurance, an ignition interlock device requirement, and thousands of dollars in fines.

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Kudos to officer for admitting his error

A Mitchell County client was arrested and charged with OWI.  Upon review of the jail video it was discovered that Client requested to call his attorney when asked to either consent or refuse to the Datamaster.  In response the officer told Client that he had to make a decision first, then he could call his attorney, because the Datamaster was for administrative purposes and a lawyer only applied to the criminal case.  This violated Client’s phone call rights.  To the credit of the officer, he contacted the county attorney, advised him that he made a mistake and that the case […]

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Ready for Trial!

Crawford County, Iowa.  Matt Lindholm recently informed the court that he was “ready for trial” on an OWI second offense charge.  Over the weekend prior to the start of trial, the county attorney offered to reduce the OWI second offense charge to reckless driving and public intoxication.  This offer was accepted by Matt’s client thereby avoiding a conviction for OWI second offense.  The old adage “good things happen when you say ready for trial” rang true for this case.

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Privacy Matters

Adair County, Iowa.  Attorney Matt Lindholm recently secured a favorable resolution of an OWI charge when it was determined that his client had requested to speak privately on the phone.  This request for privacy was ultimately denied by the officer and the client was never informed that he could speak privately in person with an attorney at the station which was a violation of his rights under Iowa Code Section 804.20.  As a result, the breath test was thrown out the the charge was amended to public intoxication thereby keeping an OWI off of the clients driving and criminal record.

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Motion to Suppress Evidence of Traffic Stop Results in Amendment of Felony Charge

Webster County, Iowa- A GRL Law client was charged with OWI 3rd offense, a lifetime 5th OWI offense. GRL attorney Grant Gangestad filed a motion to suppress evidence in the OWI prosecution based upon an illegal and unconstitutional traffic stop of the client’s vehicle.  After reviewing the video, the prosecutor agreed to amend the charge to a 1st offense. Client avoided prison time and thousands of dollars in fines.

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Regurgitation Troubles Breath Test

Humboldt County, Iowa.   After reviewing station videos on this OWI charge, it was determined that Matt Lindholm’s client had vomited at police department.  The arresting officer did not wait the required fifteen minutes before having the client submit to the breath test thereby likely producing a heightened alcohol result.  Because the fifteen minutes had not been followed, the State agreed that the resulting breath test should be thrown out and the charge was ultimately reduced to public intoxication thereby saving the client’s license

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CDL Saved After GRL Law Proves Implied Consent Error

If you read our blog regularly, then you’ve seen several posts this year about GRL Law saving commercial driver licenses from disqualification.  This post is no exception. Another CDL saved? That’s right! Our client was asked to submit a breath sample to determine his alcohol concentration.  He consented to testing after which time the DOT attempted to revoke his driving privileges. A thorough review of the implied consent process revealed the officer made a mistake.  He advised our client that a test failure (over 0.08) results in a one-year disqualification, but a refusal results in a lifetime ban.  That’s not […]

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