The Iowa Court of Appeals says a home improvement fix of a taillight was not enough to keep a Polk County woman from a drunk driving arrest. A Windsor Heights police officer stopped Heather Davis after he said he noticed one of the taillights on her car looked pink instead of red.
The officer then noticed that Davis appeared to be drunk and she was arrested after a breath test showed her blood alcohol level was over the legal limit. Davis moved to have the evidence from the traffic stop thrown out because the officer did not have probable cause to stop her.
Davis said her broken taillight had been repaired with tape from an auto parts store made for the process, and that it glowed red and not pink. She presented a picture in court that showed the light appearing to be red, but it was taken was several days after the stop.
The district court judge sided with the officer who said the taillight appeared to be pink and upheld the evidence. The Iowa Court of Appeals ruled it had no reason to overturn the district court judge’s determination on the color of the taillight and said the stop was justified and Davis’ conviction for operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated should stand.