Colin saved us! I can’t say enough nice things about him. He helped us with an issue with our college son related to underage drinking that could have ended badly without Colin’s help. He was able to provide us a great strategy and then executed it seamlessly. Highly recommend him and his firm.
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 […]
In Iowa, a person can have their driver’s license taken from them in a number of ways. For example, a person can be suspended for non-payment of fines, revoked for an operating while intoxicated test refusal or result over the legal limit of drugs and/or alcohol, or barred for other serious violations. It’s important to note that being suspended, revoked, or barred all carry special meanings under Iowa law. A suspension means that you have lost your permission from the Iowa Department of Transportation to drive for a certain period of time. Typically, you are looking at a suspension for […]
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 […]
The Iowa DOT will disqualify your CDL if you are convicted of certain moving violations. These include: Operating a CMV upon a highway without a CDL or commercial learner’s permit Operating a CMV upon a highway without the proper class of CDL, commercial learner’s permit for the specific vehicle group or for the passengers or type of cargo being transported Speeding 15 mph or more over the legal speed limit Reckless driving Any violation of the traffic laws, except a parking or vehicle weight violation, which arises in connection with a fatal traffic accident Following another motor vehicle too closely […]
Story County, Iowa- A GRL Law client was facing a 3rd OWI offense lifetime in Story County. She provided a urine sample to officers and it was sent to the state DCI lab for testing. Mr. Gangestad determined that the urine test result was inadmissible because the officers failed to properly store and package the sample for testing. The OWI was amended to a reckless driving and the client’s driver’s license was saved.
A unanimous Iowa Supreme Court ruled on October 23, 2020 that homicide by reckless driving is not a lesser included offense of homicide by OWI. In State v. Johnson, the defendant argued he was entitled to a jury instruction that his reckless driving, not operating while intoxicated, was the cause of a crash that took the life of passenger in the other vehicle. To determine whether a crime is a lesser included offense, the Court uses the “impossibility” test. Is it impossible to commit one crime without committing the other? Does the first (greater) crime include every essential element of […]
The trial attorneys at GRL Law have a well-earned reputation for zealously and aggressively representing those accused of serious criminal offenses in Iowa. While we are perhaps best known for our statewide defense of drinking drivers including felony vehicular homicide, the firm is also recognized for its work in other complex areas of the law such as sex offenses and drug charges. One area that typically doesn’t make the news, but is nevertheless a highly specialized niche for the firm, is the defense of CDL traffic tickets. We defend all CDL-related citations. Statewide. Everything from excessive speed and lane changes […]
