Tag: Trespass

Felony Drug Charges Dismissed After New Garbage Rip Law Struck

Hey, Senator Dawson and Representative Holt!  It’s your boy, Murph.  Didn’t I tell you in March that this wouldn’t turn out well? I’m talking about your unconstitutional efforts to restore the illegal practice of warrantless garbage searches in Iowa.  You know, the police tactic that we struck down last year in State v. Wright? The first district court to consider your magnum opus found it unconstitutional. That’s right. The State even dismissed the charges the following day. Think about it.  It took less than 24 hours for the State to decide it wouldn’t defend your garbage on appeal. And who […]

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Warning! Warrantless Searches of Curbside Garbage Resume July 1, 2022

Readers of the GRL Law blog are no doubt familiar with the firm’s efforts to protect the privacy rights of Iowans in State v. Wright.  That’s the 2021 ruling from the Iowa Supreme Court that banned police from trespassing on your curbside garbage and searching it without a warrant. Predictably, the law enforcement community threw a tantrum after the ruling.  And they ran kicking and screaming to some legislators at the statehouse who obviously can’t appreciate the difference between the Iowa Bill of Rights and the Communist Manifesto. The result? Effective tomorrow, July 1, 2022, anyone can scavenge your garbage.  […]

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Drug Felonies Dismissed Following Unconstitutional Garbage RIp

Earlier this year GRL convinced the Iowa Supreme Court to outlaw the police tactic of warrantless garbage searches in State v. Wright. We haven’t rested on our laurels since the ruling.  Instead, we got to work in several counties where these trash rips resulted in felony charges. A recent case in southeastern Iowa was no exception.  The facts were essentially identical to Wright.  Police illegally trespassed onto our client’s garbage containers set out for collection to scavenge trash.  A search of this trash led to a search warrant to search our client’s home resulting in two drug felony charges. However, […]

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Dog Bite Charge Dismissed After GRL Law Raises Warrantless Entry

Today, the magistrate court dismissed charges against a GRL Law client whose dog bit a DMPD officer. The evidence showed the officer attempted to coax our client into the common area of her downtown loft to “discuss” a complaint.  However, when she declined, the officer crossed the threshold of the door to arrest her. That’s when the owner’s small dog intervened and caused $80.00 in damage to the officer’s tactical pants. We believed there was a defense to the merits because the ordinance requires proof that the owner “allowed” the dog to cause damage property.  Hard to “allow” damage when […]

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Charges Dismissed Following Trash Rip Suppression

Maybe the timing is coincidental, but GRL Law secured a dismissal of all charges in State v. Wright on the same day the Iowa Supreme Court reaffirmed the constitutional underpinning of trash rips in State v. Kuuttila. One might think that this line of cases would be the last word on the issue.  But if you read the dissent, then you’ll see that the minority clearly wants to overrule a precedent that is barely four months old.   In fact, they go as far as to encourage city councils and even the Iowa General Assembly to revive the now illegal police […]

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Two Drug Felonies Binned After Warrantless Trash Rip Ruled Unconstitutional

“Bin it” is a phrase used when asking someone to put something in the trash. GRL Law recently asked the district court to bin two drug felonies arising from a warrantless trash rip.  If you are regular reader of this blog, then you know we convinced the Iowa Supreme Court earlier to find this police tactic unconstitutional in State v. Wright.  We leveraged our work in Wright to challenge felony charges in another county.  The facts were nearly identical.  Police illegally trespassed onto our client’s garbage containers set out for collection to scavenge trash.  A search of this trash led […]

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Drug Charges Resulting from a Trash Rip Search Warrant? Call GRL Law

If you are facing drug charges arising from a trash rip search warrant, then you should call the drug defense attorneys at GRL Law. GRL Law pioneered the novel legal challenge to the admissibility of evidence seized from these search warrants in State v. Wright.  Police can no longer trespass onto your personal property to gather information.  Iowans also have a constitutionally recognized expectation of privacy in garbage set out for curbside collection. Many attorneys are simply unaware of these recent developments and may overlook the necessary pretrial challenges. Don’t plead guilty to any charges following a search warrant based on […]

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GRL Law Wins Landmark Search and Seizure Case Before Iowa Supreme Court

In State v. Wright, the Iowa Supreme Court recently banned warrantless searches of curbside trash.  This landmark ruling puts an end to an investigative technique used by police for decades.   The issues before the Iowa Supreme Court were matters of first impression.  The drug defense attorneys at GRL Law are the first to ever raise the issue of trespass onto a constitutionally-protected “effect” in Iowa. We are also the first to persuade an Iowa appellate court to find an expectation of privacy in uncollected garbage. Prior to Wright, police wantonly searched household garbage set out for collection.  This was often […]

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Murphy Presents on Search and Seizure to Floyd County Criminal Law Seminar

On May 14, 2021 Colin Murphy presented at the Floyd County Spring Criminal Law Seminar in Charles City. The presentation focused on developments in Fourth Amendment jurisprudence.  In particular, Colin demonstrated how defense attorneys can apply trespass principles to prevail in seemingly unwinnable search and seizure cases.     GRL Law takes great pride in helping to educate both the bench and bar on emerging legal issues.  We think outside the box to deliver uncommon results.

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