Tag: trial advocacy

NOT GUILTY VERDICT IN UNLAWFUL PASSING TRIAL

Washington, Polk County, Iowa.  On February 26, 2021 a magistrate judge found our client not guilty following a bench trial for unsafe passing of a snow plow on a two-lane highway. We established that the snow plow does not yield at a stop sign, but rather slowly pulls out onto the highway at 10 mph.  Our client is 100 feet from the intersection traveling 45 mph.  There is no choice but to pass the snow plow on the left to avoid a rear-end collision.  The pass is nearly complete when the snow plow attempts a left-hand turn 200 feet ahead.  […]

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Snitch Beats Rap After Task Force FUBAR

On February 17, 2021 the Iowa Court of Appeals in State v. Tucker dismissed felony drug charges against an informant who upheld her end of a task force proffer. Although both the factual and procedural histories are long and winding, the issue on appeal was fairly straightforward.  Should the court enforce a plea agreement against the State when the informant does what the prosecutor specifically asked as part of the plea agreement? Here, the informant faced 40 years in prison for methamphetamine and heroin possession.  She made a proffer to the task force and agreed to testify against another party […]

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GRL Saves CDL with DOT WIN

The drug defense attorneys at GRL Law prove once again that preparation is everything when it comes to implied consent testing and DOT administrative hearings.  This is especially true when it involves professional CDL drivers and forensic drug testing. In this case, a DOT officer assigned to an I-35 weigh station in North Iowa believed he had reasonable grounds to invoke implied consent and request a urine sample under Iowa Code section 321J.6 based on the discovery of a small amount of marijuana and an admission to smoking the previous evening.  When the sample came back positive for non-impairing metabolites […]

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The Constructive Possession Defense for Marijuana

The drug defense attorneys at GRL Law have seen it all when it comes to traffic stops involving cannabis.  This is especially true when police charge a driver with possession for weed located under a passenger’s seat.    Is there a defense for the driver? Absolutely! Because this marijuana is not actually found on the driver, the State must establish he constructively possessed it by proving he: Exercised dominion and control over it; Knew of its presence; and Knew it was a controlled substance. A driver’s close physical proximity to contraband is insufficient to constitute dominion and control.  The same […]

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Knowledge of Drug Residue Can Be Inferred from Evidence

In State v. Hummell, No. 19-1691 (Nov. 30, 2020), the Iowa Court of Appeals reminds the criminal defense bar that a defendant’s knowledge of contraband can be inferred from evidence. The facts are pretty straightforward.  Police seized a broken glass vial with a white powdery substance from Hummell’s pocket following his arrest.  Hummell claimed that he regularly picked up random items from the ground and pocketed them.  The residue later tested positive for methamphetamine. In order to support a conviction for possession of a controlled substance, the State is required to prove two elements beyond a reasonable doubt: That the […]

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Exceptional Outcome in Marijuana Edible and Flower Felony WIN

Garner, Hancock County, Iowa.  After successfully vacating two convictions through post-conviction relief efforts [more on that here], the drug defense attorneys at GRL Law accomplished what former trial counsel was simply unable to do years ago: develop reasonable doubt that our client committed any felony offense involving marijuana or marijuana edibles. Our aggressive pre-trial discovery efforts raised serious questions regarding whether the alleged victim was duped into consuming chocolate containing THC.   On the contrary, it appeared instead that she pilfered clearly-labeled marijuana edibles from our client’s personal belongings without permission.  Only after she knowingly ate her way into a hazy […]

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CDL Traffic Ticket Defense – Yes, We Do That, Too!

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 […]

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Record CBD Seizure in Adair County Ends with Court-Ordered Return to Client

Greenfield, Adair County, Iowa.  The drug defense attorneys at GRL Law prevailed again today by successfully securing a court order for the return of over-the-counter cannabidiol (CBD) products seized by local law enforcement.  The estimated retail value of these CBD products exceeded $3,000, which is believed to be the largest seizure of its kind in Adair County. The original basis for the seizure was the erroneous belief that our client was operating an unlicensed “medical cannabidiol” dispensary under Iowa Code Chapter 124E.  Medical cannabidiol in Iowa contains both concentrated CBD and THC extracted from marijuana and is heavily regulated by […]

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Possession Does Not Merge With Eluding While Carrying Marijuana

A unanimous Iowa Supreme Court ruled on October 16, 2020 that certain marijuana possession-related convictions do not merge for purposes of double jeopardy protections against cumulative punishments. In State v. Johnson, the defendant argued his possession of marijuana conviction, a serious misdemeanor, should merge with his felony conviction for eluding while possessing marijuana.  The State did not dispute that a driver cannot violate the particular eluding subsection without also violating the prohibition against possessing marijuana.  Under the legal-elements test that compares two offenses to determine whether it is possible to commit the greater offense without committing the lesser, the crimes […]

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Felony Conviction Vacated Following Ineffective Assistance of Counsel WIN

Garner,  Hancock County, Iowa.  The drug defense attorneys at GRL Law successfully raised and litigated a claim of actual innocence resulting in the district court setting aside a felony conviction from 2017. Prior counsel advised our client to plead guilty to a felony charge of administering marijuana edibles to another in violation of Iowa Code section 708.5 despite the fact that she consistently maintained her innocence throughout the investigative, plea change and sentencing phases of the case. The firm raised numerous grounds on which the district court could have certainly found her trial counsel ineffective.  We were able to clearly […]

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