The Iowa City Law Blog

The Iowa Legislature is reviewing a bill which would allow those convicted of Possession of Alcohol Under the Legal Age (PAULA) to apply to have their convictions expunged.

The procedure would be nearly identical to the current law which allows defendants convicted of Public Intoxication to expunge their records.

Those convicted of PAULA would be required to avoid any criminal convictions (aside from Iowa traffic tickets) for two years following the date of the conviction. After this period has passed, they would need to petition the court to have the charge expunged.

This is an excellent bill, which would help young people become conviction-free by the time they graduate.

There is also no risk of “violating probation” that would accompany a deferred judgment. If a defendant commits a new violation, there is no probation to be revoked and the court does not need to get involved. The only penalty is that the defendant would not have the option to petition the court for expungment.

When someone is arrested for a drug crime, specifically a drug distribution crime, the officers will seize evidence.  Notably, they will take any drugs, scales, pipes, grinders and loose cash.  They will also be looking for any sort of record keeping, such as a client list or a ledger.  All of this should be expected.

However, it might come as a surprise to some dealers that the officers will seize computers or cell phones which may have contact information in them.  This is not a big deal when the cell phone is a cheap free-with-contract model.  But this can become a very big deal when the phone is a $400 iPhone.

Officers will seize a cell phone specifically to look at call logs and text messages.

Text messages are a very clear indicator of drug sales, even if supposedly sneaky code words are used.  And as I wrote, the throw-away cell phone is not as big of a deal as the a new smart phone.

In Iowa City, these items will be kept in evidence as the case proceeds through the court.  Once the case is finalized, the items will remain in evidence in case of an appeal.

However, even after the period of the appeal has passed, the items will not be returned.  They will eventually be destroyed.

That makes sense in regard to the drugs and paraphernalia themselves.

But the iPhone is simply destroyed.

So don’t let your fancy smart phone fall victim to destruction at the hands of the I.C.P.D.

With the icy weather and cold temperatures invading Iowa, it’s time for another reminder of the whole “O” in the OWI offense.

For whatever reason, Iowa has decided to call the “DUI” offense “OWI.”  The law refers to this as both “Operating While Intoxicated” and in the same statute, “Operating While under the Influence.”  So whichever name you wish to use, it’s clear that the “O” means “Operating.”

Why not “driving?”  Well, “operating” is more inclusive.  The legislature wants to trap those people that weren’t actually driving the vehicle, but merely engaged in the operation of it.

Primarily this is going to include people sitting in their cars with the engines on and the heaters running.

This isn’t as big of a problem in the summer.  In the summer you would be fine to “sleep it off” in your car, as long as the engine was never operating and the keys were not in the ignition.

But cars cannot operate the heater without the engine being engaged, so wintertime will often lead to a few more operating-but-not-driving related OWI’s.

The penalty is the same.

Lesson?  Don’t sleep it off in your car in the winter.

Also, as a point of responsibility, often times when “sleeping it off” the amount of time it takes to achieve a non-intoxicated state will exceed the time somebody would sleep in their car throughout the morning.  If someone drinks to the point of passing out (0.15 or greater) and they pass out at 2:00 a.m., they will not be safe to drive when the sun comes up.  Many people will drink to a BAC of 0.20 or more, and that certainly will take more than a few hours in the car to return to a non-intoxicated < 0.08 level.  The only time that “sleeping it off” can really work is if your BAC is very close to 0.08, and a few hours would push it to 0.05 or less.  Nights of heavy drinking cannot be remedied by a few hours of sleep.  And anybody that jumps in the car at 8:00 a.m. after drinking hard until 2:00 a.m. is very likely violating the Iowa OWI law.