Tag: Public Intoxication

OWI and Eluding Charges Amended to Public Intoxication

Okoboji, Dickenson County, Iowa. Operating While Intoxicated, Leaving the Scene of and Accident, and Eluding Charges all resolved with a single plea to a Simple Misdemeanor, Public Intoxication offense after officer was held to have violated defendants right to phone calls.  Some cases start off looking like an insurmountable mountains but when the facts start being drawn out the mountain crumbles.  Here, GRL’s client facing the possibility of having his driving privileges revoked for an entire year without the possibility of a restricted license because of the Eluding allegation.  The officer’s videos refuted the Eluding charge as it was obvious […]

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OWI Amended Down to Public Intoxication

West Des Moines, Polk County, Iowa.  What started as an Operating While Intoxicated, was resolved with an amendment down to Public Intoxication.  GRL’s client was stopped for speeding.  He politely declined to submit to field sobriety testing and further politely declined to submit to the DataMaster breath test at the station.  Lacking evidence of impairment, the prosecution agreed to amend the charge down to a simple misdemeanor, public intoxication.

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Felony OWI Amended to Public Intoxication

The impaired driving defense attorneys at GRL get results.  A recent case in Mitchell County demonstrates how effective we can be when the stakes are highest. We recently took over a case from another attorney after the State refused to budge on a felony OWI and trial looked inevitable.  After unpacking it, we discovered several important facts that completely changed the dynamic of the case.  We went to work limiting the State’s evidence.  We requested the DataMaster DMT breath test data and noticed the State’s expert witness to appear on our behalf at trial. The result? On the eve of […]

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CDL Saved After State Amends OWI Charge

The drunk driving lawyers at GRL Law successfully negotiated yet another resolution to preserve a client’s CDL. After winning the DOT and suppression hearings, we leveraged those results by convincing the county attorney to amend the OWI to public intoxication and reckless driving with no jail time. The DOT would have disqualified the client’s CDL had he pleaded guilty as charged even though we prevented the implied consent revocation from taking effect. Our negotiation saved his commercial driving privileges after we won the DOT hearing. A shout out to the prosecutor who was willing to reevaluate the charge in light […]

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Iowa State Fair Public Intoxication Charge Dismissed

Polk County, Iowa- A client who was attempting to enter the Grandstand at the Iowa State Fair was arrested for public intoxication by undercover officers.  The client was calm and polite, but did not provide the officers with any additional information other than what was required of him.  After successful negotiation with the prosecutor, the county attorney agreed to dismiss the public intoxication charge against Mr. Gangestad’s client.

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Second Offense OWI Amended Following Suppression of Test Refusal

To the impaired driving defense attorneys at GRL Law, the name of the game is relentless pretrial discovery.  It’s what we do.  Essentially, if there’s a defense, then we’ll find it and leverage it to produce uncommon results. A recent OWI Second Offense charge in western Iowa provides a perfect example of this approach.  After exhaustively reviewing 911 calls, dispatch logs, the dash camera and body camera videos and cross-examining the officer at the DOT hearing (yes, we vigorously defend DOT revocations at hearing), we discovered: The basis for the stop, a “verbal domestic,” was questionable; The officer had no […]

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CDL Saved After OWI Amended to Public Intoxication

The impaired driving attorneys at GRL Law successfully negotiated another resolution to preserve a client’s CDL.  After winning the DOT hearing, we leveraged that result by convincing the county attorney to amend the OWI to public intoxication with a minimum fine of $105 and no jail time.  The DOT would have disqualified the client’s CDL had he pleaded guilty as charged.  The negotiation saved his commercial driving privileges. A tip of the hat to the county attorney who was willing to reevaluate the charge in light of our efforts with the DOT.

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Public Intoxication Charge Dismissed at State’s Cost

Sometimes police are way too aggressive in their attempts to ferret out crime.  When that occurs, the criminal defense attorneys at GRL Law are often called to secure justice for the accused. A perfect example of this happened recently in Ankeny. Our client was simply walking on a sidewalk when the police approached in a patrol car.  Small talk soon led to a request for field sobriety and breath testing, both of which were politely refused.  When the officer announced he was making an arrest, our client offered a breath test. The result? 0.019 percent alcohol.  Maybe a beer’s worth.  […]

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