Polk County, Iowa. OWI second offense charge was recently amended to reckless driving and the client’s driving privileges were saved because the officer did not wait a sufficient amount of time for the client to receive a return phone call before making him decide whether to submit to a breath test. The officer initially gave the client thirty minutes to place telephone calls but after several minutes of unsuccessful calls and leaving messages the officer required the client to make a decision to submit to the test despite the client’s request to wait for a return call. The DOT ruled that the officer violated the clients rights under Iowa Code Section 804.20 and did not suspend his license. The criminal charge was ultimately reduced to reckless driving.
