The Iowa Supreme Court recently changed its interpretation of the speedy indictment laws, which will affect the rights of those accused or arrested for crimes. This comes just seven years after the prior precedent originally was set. The ruling states that for purposes of the speedy indictment rules, a defendant is arrested officially when they are …
Category: Iowa Legal News
New Law In Iowa Gives Expansive Rights to Gun Owners
A sweeping new gun law was signed into effect last month for Iowa, after passing in both the Republican controlled Senate and House. The law caused quite a bit of controversy while still a bill. Much of this was due to its inclusion of specific “stand your ground” language regarding justifiable use of reasonable and deadly …
New Iowa Laws Tougher on Texting While Driving and Driving Impaired
On Monday, April 17, Governor Branstad signed bills into law banning texting while driving and allowing for tougher action against driving while impaired. Previously, texting while driving was considered a secondary offense in Iowa, which meant police could not stop someone unless they believed another violation had occurred. Under the new law, police will be …
Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Client Arrested for Incorrectly Answering Illegal Question
In response to Gazette article: Iowa Supreme Court: Lying about felony record on gun form no crime I represented Mr. Downey at the district court level, and made several arguments on his behalf, one of which the Iowa Supreme Court addressed and found in my client’s favor, which was dispositive of the appeal, so they didn’t …
Iowa Supreme Court Rules On Search and Seizure Traffic Stop
The Iowa Supreme Court recently overturned the conviction of Jayel Coleman, who was arrested after he was discovered driving while barred. Coleman was driving his sister’s car when Eldridge police officer James Morris pulled him over. Morris had been checking license plates for stolen vehicles when he came across the car Coleman was driving. The …
Iowa Disability Rights Can’t Stand Trial
On March 16, 2016, a tragedy occurred in Council Bluffs, IA. That morning, Council Bluffs police officers found Jackie Dieckmann and Illa Pfeiffer dead in their home. Michael Dieckmann – who has severe schizophrenia – murdered them. Michael is Jackie’s son and Illa’s grandson, and has a long history of violence due to his mental illness. …
Iowa Traffic Ticket Lawsuit
An Iowa traffic ticket lawsuit could result in over 20,000 traffic tickets that were issued by the Iowa Department of Transportation to be invalidated and paid back to the drivers. This situation began in May 2016 when a 16 year-old, Peyton Atzen, was issued a speeding ticket by a DOT officer. He and his parents …
Iowa City Residents Are Concerned About Our Justice System
Recently, journalism students from the University of Iowa interviewed Adam. They wanted to hear a lawyer’s thoughts on why some crimes are more severe but receive less punishment. Students were comparing the sentence lengths of the Brock Turner sexual assault case to the actor Wesley Snipe’s tax evasion case. Brock Turner received a six-month sentence whereas Wesley Snipes’ received a three-year sentence. Adam …
Iowa Supreme Court discusses the problem of wrongful convictions in Rhoades v. State of Iowa
Iowa Supreme Court discusses the problem of wrongful convictions in Rhoades v. State of Iowa, and the limitations on obtaining compensation under the state’s wrongful imprisonment statute. “Remarkably, in the seven years between 1989 and 1996 in sexual assault cases referred to the FBI, DNA results excluded the prime suspect about twenty percent of the …
You can wipe acquittals, dismissals from Iowa Courts Online
The state of Iowa provides public access to online court records. Most of the information is available for free and at any time, however, it may be showing something on your record that was dismissed. This bevy of information provides many values, but can also be detrimental to those who have been to court and …
Branstad: State will investigate wrongful convictions
Governor Branstad acknowledged that “in a system run by humans, mistakes can be made,” even with confidence in Iowa’s legal system. A unit is being established to review potential wrongful convictions and provide a legal remedy. Convicted felons have been able to appeal their conviction in court, but a new unit will provide additional resources. …
Iowa’s open records law on body camera footage murky, expert says
A panel discussion was hosted by The Des Moines Register and the Iowa Newspaper Association to discuss Iowa’s open record laws and how they will affect police body camera footage. The laws in place are too broad and not specific enough on what is to be done with the footage. The democratic senator from Waterloo Danielson …