A Polk County District judge denied a defendant’s motion to suppress evidence from a traffic stop initiated by a police officer who could not make out one letter on the vehicle’s license plate because it was partially blocked by a trailer hitch ball.
The Iowa Supreme Court will hear arguments in nine cases Nov. 16 and 17. Three other cases will be submitted to the Court without oral argument. Following are short summaries of the November cases. Go to On Brief’s Cases in the Pipeline page to read the briefs in these case …
When a criminal defendant pleads guilty to a crime, it produces the same result as a criminal conviction at trial. So courts have created procedural requirements designed to ensure that any plea is legally and constitutionally valid before it is accepted.
One requirement is that there must be a factual basis for the crim …
The Iowa Supreme Court will go on the road to Denison Oct. 25 to hear oral arguments in an appeal by the State in a case involving a defendant who successfully argued in District Court that the State’s breath test evidence in a drunk-driving prosecution is inadmissible because he does not speak English and did not underst …
The Iowa Supreme Court will hear arguments in eight cases Oct. 12 and 13. Five other cases will be submitted to the court without oral argument. Following are short summaries of the October cases. Go to On Brief’s Cases in the Pipeline page to read briefs filed with the Cou …
Most every state was affected one way or another by decisions handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in its recently ended term. A decision upholding California’s restriction on the sale of certain pork products in the state of California, however, may have an outsize impact on Iowa, which is the No. 1 pork producer and ex …
In an opinion filed on April 28, 2023, the Iowa Supreme Court in Environmental Law and Policy Center v. Iowa Utilities Board ruled under Iowa Code section 476.6 the Iowa Utilities Board erred in not considering certain intervenors’ evidence when approving MidAmerican Energy’s required biennial plan and budget f …
Since the Iowa Supreme Court ended its 2022-23 term June 30 with release of all remaining decisions, the justices have been spending the summer months on court administration matters that could affect the practice of law and operation of Iowa courts for years to come.
Among the items on the Court’s administrative term …
During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Iowa Supreme Court created temporary rules for conducting remote trial and appellate proceedings when in-person hearings and trials were not considered safe.
Although Covid concerns have receded, Iowa judges, lawyers, and court administrators have recognized the need to con …
On Brief: Iowa’s Appellate Blog is devoted to appellate litigation with a focus on the Iowa Supreme Court, the Iowa Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.
