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Court throws out OWI case, cites illegal search
DES MOINES (AP) ? The Iowa Supreme Court has thrown out the drunken driving conviction of a northwest Iowa man, saying a police stop based on an anonymous tip violated the man's constitutional protection against improper searches.
The case is about Rock Valley businessman Leon Kooima's 2010 arrest after a charity golf event in Okoboji. A man who knew him called police to anonymously report an intoxicated driver.
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Sep. 30, 2018 8:10 pm
DES MOINES (AP) ? The Iowa Supreme Court has thrown out the drunken driving conviction of a northwest Iowa man, saying a police stop based on an anonymous tip violated the man's constitutional protection against improper searches.
The case is about Rock Valley businessman Leon Kooima's 2010 arrest after a charity golf event in Okoboji. A man who knew him called police to anonymously report an intoxicated driver.
The split court decided 4 to 3 that the tip lacked specific information that the caller knew Kooima was drunk.
The court says evidence gathered after the stop, including a field sobriety test and a breath test that showed he was intoxicated, cannot be used against him if he is tried again.
Kooima and the Sioux County attorney did not immediately return messages.
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