Tag: Results – Drunk Driving

Crossing Fog Line Is NOT Reason to Believe Driver is Drunk

Atlantic, Cass County, Iowa. The Iowa Supreme Court confirmed what the Iowa Supreme Court said back in 2004, a single, isolated incident of a driver crossing over the fog line (solid white line on edge of road) does not create a sufficient reasonable suspicion that the driver is intoxicated. The facts in the case were captured by way of the Cass County Deputy’s squad car camera and showed that the defendant’s vehicle crossed over the fog line just once as it met the Deputy’s vehicle on a curve.  The Deputy turned around and followed the vehicle and did not observe […]

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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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I Want to Call to Get Bond–Nope!

Ringgold County, Iowa.  A GRL client recently had an OWI charge amended to reckless driving.  The amended charge was the result of Attorney Matt Lindholm finding a way to get the client’s breath test refusal suppressed.  The client requested an opportunity to place a phone call to secure bond for his release prior to deciding whether to consent or refuse the chemical breath test request and the officer denied the request.  This denial violated Iowa Code Section 804.20 and provided a basis for suppression of the resulting breath test refusal which saved the client’s drivers license and secured the amended […]

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The Law–Just Follow the Law

Polk County, Iowa.   A GRL client recently got an Operating While Intoxicated charge dismissed following a ruling by the court throwing out the breath test refusal.  Attorney Matt Lindholm was able to secure the dismissal for the client after showing that the preliminary breath testing device used in the case did not comply with Iowa’s calibration requirements.  In addition to the charge getting dismissed, the client was able to prevent any loss of his driver’s license.

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Request for Confidentiality Results in Reduced Charges

Johnson County, Iowa.   A GRL client recently had his operating while intoxicated charge reduced to public intoxication.  Attorney Matt Lindholm filed a motion to suppress on the client’s behalf arguing that he was never informed about his right to confidential communications following the request for privacy on his phone calls.  Iowa Code Section 804.20 provides that a person can call, consult, and see an attorney, family member, or both following their arrest.  If a person requests a confidential phone call, the officer must inform them about their rights to confidentiality pursuant to this code section and the failure to do […]

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State Amends OWI to Public Intoxication on Eve of Trial

The state recently moved to amend a charge to public intoxication from OWI in a North Iowa case involving a test refusal. Why the amendment?  The drunk driving attorneys at GRL Law were prepared to show that our client, a lifetime smoker, never refused testing.   Instead, the officer deemed her to have refused after a third incomplete DataMaster DMT test.  The multiple incomplete tests were due to our client’s inability to provide an acceptable breath sample meeting all of the test parameters.  Nothing more. The officer could have instead requested that she submit a sample of blood or urine.  Those […]

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Bad Urine Test Results

Taylor County, Iowa.  A GRL client’s operating while intoxicated charges were recently reduced when it was determined that the urine test in her case was obtained in violation of the collection procedures adopted by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.  After conducting a thorough investigation, attorney Matt Lindholm found that the officer failed to collect a second void of the client’s urine for testing and used a testing kit that had an expired expiration date.  As a result, the State agreed that the urine test results could not be admitted as evidence and the charge was ultimately reduced to reckless […]

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They Don’t Quit, We Don’t Quit

Waukon, Allamakee County.  An unfortunate turn of events turned into an unusual legal battle in GRL’s defense of an Operating While Intoxicated and speeding case. In an unexpected and tragic twist, the Trooper who investigated GRL’s client passed away in a car accident prior to the case getting to court.  The prosecution understandably did not want to voluntarily let an Operating While Intoxicated accusation walk away unscathed, simply because their officer had passed away.  The prosecution pressed on, attempting to argue a number of different legal points to justify the continued prosecution. GRL continued to fight on behalf of our […]

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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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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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