Tag: pbt

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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Double Violations Results in Dismissal

Sidney, Fremont County, Iowa.  OWI 2nd Offense arising out of an accident, dismissed outright after court granted defendant’s motion to suppress evidence.  GRL dug into the case and determined that the preliminary breath test calibration logs did not comply with Iowa’s requirements.  Additionally, a close review of the video recordings from the police station proved that a separate legal violation occurred by the officer when he refused GRL’s client’s request to call his father prior to making a decision to submit to a breath test at the station.  With the test excluded from evidence the prosecution dismissed the charges and […]

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Preliminary Breath Test Logs Strike Again

Carroll, Carroll County, Iowa.  A commercial vehicle driver’s driving privileges were spared and the Operating While Intoxicated accusation was dismissed outright after it was discovered that the preliminary breath test (PBT) log did not comply with Iowa requirements. A preliminary breath test device is the breath test that law enforcement requests out on the road, prior to making a decision to bring a driver in for further testing.  It does not have all of the built-in safeguards that the DataMaster breath test has at the station.  Because of what the court has described as “inherent unreliability” of the PBT, law […]

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Dry Gas Expiration Date . . . The Weakest Link of the PBT Log

As part of our pretrial discovery process, GRL Law routinely scrutinizes the contents of PBT logs. Why? Because record keeping errors can prevent the PBT from triggering implied consent.  If there’s a defect in the implied consent process, then the driver’s operating privileges won’t be revoked.  The breath test or refusal may also be inadmissible at trial in the companion criminal case. Last spring, this administrative regulations for PBT logs added for the first time the expiration date of the standard used to the list of required information. Did law enforcement agencies get the memo?  From what we can tell, […]

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One County, One Mistake, Two Cases, Two Wins

Charles City, Floyd County, Iowa.  GRL Law discovered that the preliminary breath test calibration logs for Floyd County Sheriff’s Office did not comply with the Iowa requirements and had not complied for many months.  Because of this, we were able to save the full and commercial driving privileges of two separate clients and also successfully resolved their criminal cases with simple misdemeanor offenses.  It pays to conduct thorough investigations of every case.  Licensed saved!  Operating While Intoxicated charges avoided!

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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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20 Year-Old OWI Charge Amended to Reckless Driving WIN

On September 3, 2020 the Cerro Gordo District Court amended a 20 year-old charge of OWI to reckless driving after GRL Law was retained to do what we do best: uncover and leverage every possible defense to our client’s benefit.  In this case, the initial call to dispatch came from a reserve officer who reportedly observed some careless driving.  The vehicle was being operated, however, in a private parking lot (careless driving under section 321.277A can only be committed on a public road).  Also, there was no allegation linking the driving behavior to drinking alcohol.  Furthermore, the arresting officer pulled […]

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Uncertified Officer with Uncertified Preliminary Breath Test Results in OWI Being Avoided and Driving Privileges Saved

Rock Rapids, Lyon County, Iowa.  GRL Law’s client was charged with Operating While Intoxicated and faced a 6 month license suspension and up to one year in jail.  During the discovery phase of the case, GRL Law uncovered that the initial investigating and arresting officer was not a certified police officer in the state of Iowa at the time of the investigation.  The officer had recently moved to Iowa after being a State Trooper in the state of Washington.  Iowa law requires that officers who investigate operating while intoxicated offenses be certified in the Iowa procedures and protocols.  On top […]

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