In most criminal cases involving a jail sentence, the defendant will be given the option to sign up for jail time within a certain period of time. This is called a “delayed mittimus.” (Mittimus means the date and time at which someone must report to jail.) Most delayed mittimus cases in Johnson County, Iowa will […]
Deferred Judgments and Dismissals
Many of the cases that our lawyer handles deal with the charges that students encounter during their enrollment at the University of Iowa, or even while visiting Iowa City for the weekend. In these cases our lawyer will focus on limiting the impact that these charges can have on a student’s future by pursing options […]
More on Synthetic Marijuana
The Cedar Rapids Gazette has put together a fairly good article on the issue of K2/Spice in eastern Iowa: http://thegazette.com/2012/01/24/synthetic-pot-poses-enforcement-dilemma-in-iowa/ As the article outlines, there are big issues in enforcing the law prohibiting possession of these substances. There are several new chemical compounds that are now illegal, but there is presently no available field test […]
K2, Bath Salts Possession Remains Illegal
http://thegazette.com/2011/12/16/iowa-officials-warn-parents-about-synthetic-drug-trend-among-teens/ The Cedar Rapids Gazette published this story on the continued use of K2 and other synthetic substances. We have continued to see use in Johnson County, but mainly with people under probation. I have not yet seen a new possession charged filed for these substances, even though mere possession is illegal and carries a […]
Johnson County (Iowa City) Court Changes Schedule for 2012
For the last many years, Johnson County District Associate Court has held its pretrial conferences at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesdays. Trials always began on Monday mornings, and the Friday before the trial was reserved for final pretrial conferences. For 2012, there will be a few changes. Pretrial conferences have been moved to occur normally on […]
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K2, Spice, “Bath Salts” Not Legal in Iowa
The following is a message from the Governor’s Office of Drug Control Policy. The short version of the new law is summarized in my title. K2/Spice (synthetic marijuana) is no longer legal to possess or sell in Iowa. Until now, this could be found at various head shops, over-the-counter, in Iowa City. Now, please be […]
Jury Trial Win 6/20/11
In Johnson County case number AGCR091853, we won a jury verdict on Monday, 6/20/11. The case was the rare assault case that we took on. Generally we keep our cases to drug/alcohol related matters, but this was a case where the defendant was truly not guilty of the crime as alleged. The case was originally filed […]
State to Review PAULA Expungment
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 […]
City Council to Address 21-only in Iowa City Bars
Recently, the Iowa City City Council has chosen to revisit the issue as to whether those under 21 should be allowed inside Iowa City bars during the nighttime hours. Currently, the age restriction is 19 years. Those under 19 who are in an Iowa City bar past 10:00 p.m. can be cited with a ticket […]
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City One Step Closer to 21-Only
The Iowa City council has passed vote #2 of 3 in regard to passing a 21-and-older ordinance for the Iowa City bars. News from the latest meeting is that this current proposal could go into effect as early as June of this year. Another proposal is that the ordinance may be delayed until the public […]