Tag: vehicular homicide

Vehicular Homicide x 3 DISMISSED

Osceola, Clarke County, Iowa.  Three Vehicular Homicide charges were dismissed against GRL’s client less than a month before trial was set to commence.  GRL’s client was accused of Vehicular Homicide by Reckless Driving after a vehicle he was driving was struck by a train.  The three occupants of the vehicle were tragically killed in the accident, including GRL’s client’s sister.  Despite there being no evidence of impairment or excessive speed, Clarke County filed the charges against the defendant, who was 16-years-old at the time of the accident. GRL’s investigation quickly uncovered the fact that the Stop Ahead sign that Clarke […]

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Vehicular Homicide DISMISSED Halfway Through Jury Trial

Charles City, Floyd County, Iowa.  Vehicular Homicide charge against GRL’s client was dismissed by the court because the prosecution failed to present enough evidence for the case to continue any further forward at trial. GRL’s client was charged with Vehicular Homicide under Iowa’s texting and driving law after he was involved in a tragic accident with a bicyclist on a county highway that resulted in the bicyclist’s death.  GRL’s client stayed on the scene, called 911, attempted to assist the bicyclists and cooperated fully with law enforcement.  When law enforcement arrived he explained that he did not see the cyclists […]

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THC Metabolites Detected in Urine Following Full-Spectrum CBD Use

The November 4, 2020 issue of JAMA Psychiatry published results from a recent study examining whether the use of full-spectrum CBD from legal hemp (< 0.30% Δ9-THC) would lead to positive urine test results for THC metabolites. It has been often assumed that hemp-derived cannabidiol products will test negative for urinary THC.  However, the study showed that half of subjects tested positive for carboxy-THC, an inactive metabolite of Δ9-THC, after four weeks of daily use.  Samples were initially screened through urine drug assays.  Positive screens were confirmed through gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy. The results suggest that individuals consistently using full-spectrum, hemp-derived […]

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Reckless Driving Causing Death is not a Lesser Offense of OWI Vehicular Homicide

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 […]

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Vehicular Homicide Accusation DISMISSED

Ankeny, Polk County, Iowa.  The day before the defense’s motion to suppress evidence was to be heard, the court dismissed the much publicized charges against GRL Law’s client at the request of the prosecution. GRL Law’s client, a local farmer and president of the Iowa Farmers Union, was accused of Vehicular Homicide by way of Reckless Driving.  This accusation was a Class C Felony, carrying the potential for up to 10 years in prison for a man who had never been on the wrong side of the law before.  The accusation was based upon evidence of speeding and lawfully talking […]

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GRL Law Speaks Out In Defense of Client Accused of Vehicular Homicide

GRL Law speaks out in support of our client accused of Vehicular Homicide as a result of a tragic accident late last year.  “It is scary when we start turning accidents into felony prosecutions” GRL Law’s partner, Robert Rehkemper told KCCI. The charge GRL Law client is accused of committing requires the prosecution to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused’s driving amounted to a willful and wanton disregard for other people’s safety.  The name for this legal standard is recklessness.  According to Iowa law, for a person’s conduct to qualify as reckless it must be highly dangerous.  The […]

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