The Iowa Judicial Building.
The Iowa Supreme Court has thrown out the evidence from a drug arrest in Black Hawk County because of a information that was missing from a sign.
A Black Hawk County Sheriff’s Deputy stopped Michael Scheffert just after 12:30 A.M. in May of 2015 on a gravel road near the county conservation department’s Falls Access.
The deputy told Scheffert that Falls Access closed at 10:30 and asked to search his car. The search turned up a pipe and marijuana and Scheffert was charge with second offense possession of a controlled substance. Scheffert appealed — saying the seizure was illegal as there was no proof the Falls Access was closed at the time of the stop.
The Iowa Supreme Court sided with Scheffert — saying the sign to the access did not have the posted closing time as required by code. The Supreme Court said any drug evidence was found illegally and vacated Scheffert’s conviction. They ordered a new trial without the drug evidence.
Here’s the ruling: Scheffert-opinion-PDF