West Des Moines, IA
Drug Crime Lawyer at West Des Moines, IA
Practice Areas: Drug Crime, DUI & DWI
OUTCOME: Charges Dismissed
The State dismissed charges of Unlawful Possession of Prescription Drug shortly before hearing on my motion to suppress evidence once it became clear that the warrantless search of a purse was done wit ... hout probable cause and exigent circumstances.
OUTCOME: Charges Dismissed
The State was left with no option but to dismiss felony charges of Possession of a Controlled Substance as a Habitual Offender following a favorable June 22, 2010 ruling suppressing all evidence seized ... during a search warrant execution at defendant’s residence. I urged, and the district court found, that there were insufficient facts alleged in the affidavit to provide probable cause to issue the warrant. The district court concluded there was an insufficient nexus established connecting the particular residence to drug activity. It also found that the allegations of suspicious activity at the home were too remote in time to conclude that narcotics would be located there on that particular day, despite the fact that they were provided by a confidential informant. A conviction would have resulted in the imposition of an enhanced sentence of up to 15 years with a minimum sentence of 3 years served due to the number of prior felony convictions.
OUTCOME: OWI Amended to Public Intoxication
On May 10, 2010 the district court amended the charge of OWI to simple misdemeanor public intoxication after discovery revealed the arresting officer had not complied with the requirements of Iowa Code ... section 804.20, which mandates that an arrested person be allowed to contact a family member or attorney from the jail upon request else the breath test is suppressed.
OUTCOME: Charges Dismissed
On April 14, 2010 the district court dismissed the charges upon my motion after discovery revealed that the defendant had actually been arrested more than 45 days prior to the filing of the trial infor ... mation, which means that the charge could proceed no further. The fact that I was able to establish conflicting evidence regarding whether defendant was actually operating the vehicle at the time of the stop made dismissal all the more likely even without the speedy indictment issue.
OUTCOME: Charges Dismissed
On March 18, 2010 the district court suppressed all evidence of controlled substances seized from defendant’s vehicle following a “positive” alert by narcotics detection dog. The court agreed with my ... argument that the officer did not have reasonable suspicion to detain defendant to await the dog after a traffic stop for a seat belt violation. Because the court agreed that additional detention was unwarranted, it was not necessary to rule on the issue of whether the dog alerted as trained. The State dismissed the charges following the favorable ruling.
OUTCOME: Not Guilty Verdict
The jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty of OWI in a case where the State was forced to focus exclusively on field sobriety test results after we won a hard-fought pre-trial motion to suppress all che ... mical test results. Having already prevailed in the administrative license revocation hearing, the verdict allowed my client to maintain his operating and commercial driving privileges.
OUTCOME: Charges Dismissed
On February 17, 2010 the district court suppressed all evidence seized following a search of a vehicle based on a “positive” alert by a narcotics detection dog. Extensive discovery of the K9’s backgro ... und and training revealed that the dog was not well trained in the detection of narcotics. With the assistance of expert testimony, I proved the “alert” by the K9 was no alert at all, but merely a change in breathing pattern. This behavior is typical of all dogs, not just those trained to detect the odor of narcotics, and therefore, was too vague to establish probable cause to search. The State soon dismissed charges of Possession with Intent to Deliver a Controlled Substance and Failure to Affix a Drug Tax Stamp. The ruling also led to the return of cash the State intended to forfeit as the proceeds of illegal activity.
OUTCOME: Charges Dismissed
The State dismissed class B felony charges of Possession with Intent to Manufacture a Controlled Substance after I successfully challenged the basis for a search warrant that led to the discovery of dr ... ug precursors and more than 5 grams of a mixture containing methamphetamine. On February 1, 2010 the district court suppressed all evidence after agreeing with me that probable cause to issue the warrant was lacking. The information contained in the search warrant affidavit was based on multiple levels of hearsay without establishing the veracity of the individual supplying the information. It also failed to provide a sufficient nexus between criminal activity and this particular residence. Furthermore, the information was too stale in that it was weeks old and failed to adequately allege ongoing criminal activity. A class B felony for manufacturing a controlled substance carries an indeterminate term of up to 25 years in prison (300 months) of which more than one-third of the sentence or 8.33 years (100 months) must be served.
OUTCOME: Charges Dismissed
On January 6, 2010 the district court dismissed the charge of OWI in the interest of justice due to the fact that I had successfully challenged the revocation of defendant’s driving privileges before t ... he DOT. The evidence at the DOT hearing established that the officer had not complied with the requirements of Iowa Code section 804.20, which mandates that an arrested person be allowed to contact a family member or attorney from the jail upon request else the breath test is suppressed. Realizing an identical outcome was likely, the State conceded the issue in defendant’s favor.
OUTCOME: OWI Amended to Public Intoxication
On June 19, 2009 the district court suppressed the results of a DataMaster breath test on the grounds that the implied consent advisory was erroneous and misleading regarding the licensing consequences ... for a CDL holder driving a non-commercial vehicle who fails a breath test. The State amended the charges to simple misdemeanor public intoxication. The DOT also rescinded the license revocation and CDL disqualification resulting in a restoration of defendant’s regular and commercial driving privileges.
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