The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld a Jasper County man’s drug conviction. The case dates back to February of 2004 when James Lane of Newton was arrested. A deputy saw another man driving a car — a man who had his license suspended — and the deputy wound up tracking the man to a garage in Newton. That deputy, along with another who’d arrived on the scene, walked into the garage where they found meth.
Shortly afterwards, the cops went to Lane’s home and got consent from Lane’s girlfriend to search the house. They found three-hundred grams of meth there, stored in a lock box. At Lane’s trial, the charges based on what was found in the garage were thrown out and he was found guilty of two counts of drug possession based on what was discovered in his home.
The Iowa Supreme Court has rejected Lane’s argument that if the first search was thrown out, then the second search should have been, too. The court ruled the cops had proper consent for that second search, and that was the key to upholding his conviction.