• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / Crime / Courts / Supreme Court rules in drunk driving and use of English

Supreme Court rules in drunk driving and use of English

September 19, 2008 By admin

The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld the drunken driving conviction of an Ottumwa man who complains he didn’t know English well enough to know he could refuse to take a blood alcohol test. One afternoon in late January of 2006 Ottumwa police got a call about a man slumped over the steering wheel of a truck that was sitting in a Casey’s carwash.

A police officer found the truck parked, with its engine running and Hector Garcia inside. The office knocked on the window of the truck, but Garcia didn’t wake up. The officer opened the door and woke him up. She saw an open can of beer in a cup holder and smelled alcohol on his breath.

Garcia argues he didn’t understand English well enough to know what the cop was telling him about the blood alcohol test. The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that while police must use "reasonable methods" to tell someone they can refuse to take drunken driving tests, it "does not mean the officer must take extraordinary…measures."

The court points out alcohol dissipates from the blood over time and waiting for an interpreter to arrive could rise losing evidence of intoxication. It also cites conversations the cop and Garcia had before the tests were taken, conversations the officer says led her to believe he understood English. 

AUDIO: Radio Iowa’s O. Kay Henderson report. :58 MP3

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Crime / Courts Tagged With: Alcohol

Featured Stories

ISU research finds health benefits for chickens watching virtual reality

Fish kill at Storm Lake linked to virus that impacts only carp

Final employee who was there at the launch of the Iowa Lottery to retire

No more USPS mail in Iowa prisons; inmates to get copies of mail

State officials warn of influx of fake prescription drugs laced with fentanyl

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

Grinnell College football looks for more progress in rebuild

Iowa State’s Brock eyes expanded role

Iowa’s Jones adjusting to move to center

Iowa unranked to open the season

UNI’s Spencer Cuvelier bounces back from injury

More Sports

eNews and Updates

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Archives

Copyright © 2022 ยท Learfield News & Ag, LLC