In State v. Garrity, an Iowa Supreme Court case released last week, the Court clarified the duties of police officers when a defendant requests to make a phone call. Iowa law requires police officers who have someone in custody to allow that person to call, consult or see a member of the person’s family, or […]
Month: May 2009
Impeaching One's Own Witness – Iowa Law
Formerly, a party never had the right to impeach, or question the credibility of, their own witnesses. The theory was that a person vouches for a witness she calls and is bound by what they say on the stand. However, after State v. Trost, a 1976 Iowa Supreme Court case, that is no longer the […]