Photo from court documents on blocked license plate.
A ruling on an obstructed license plate will stand after a split vote in the Iowa Supreme Court on the issue.
Prince Payne was stopped by an Altoona police officer who said the ball in the trailer hitch of his pickup was blocking the view of the third letter on the license plate. Payne was convicted of driving while barred, but appealed, saying the stop was illegal because the hitch ball did not violate the requirement that license plates be clearly visible.
The district court ruled against Payne, but the Court of Appels ruled in his favor. Justices Thomas Waterman, Edward Mansfield, and Thomas McDonald voted to vacate the decision of the court of appeals and affirm the judgment of the district court on the suppression issue. Chief Justice Susan Christensen, Dana Oxley and John McDermott voted to affirm the decision of
the court of appeals and reverse the judgment of the district court on that issue.
The high court split means the district court decision stands, and the stop was legal.