A person aggrieved by an unlawful search and seizure may move to suppress for use as evidence anything so obtained on any of the following grounds:
- The property was illegally seized without a warrant.
- The warrant is insufficient on its face.
- The property seized is not that described in the warrant.
- There was not probable cause for believing the existence of the grounds on which the warrant was issued.
- The warrant was illegally executed.
The Court will receive evidence on any issue of fact necessary to the decision of the motion. If the motion is granted, the property shall be restored to its owner, unless otherwise subject to lawful detention, and it shall not be admissible in evidence in any hearing or trial. [The above is quoted from the Iowa Rules of Criminal Procedure].
Many times the evidence to be suppressed would be the officer’s testimony from a traffic stop, or any drugs or illegal substances that an officer discovered. If these pieces of evidence are suppressed in a Motion to Suppress hearing, the prosecutor is often forced to dismiss the charges and the defendant can go free.