Democrat-Majority Iowa Supreme Court Continues To Be Pro-Criminal

From the Quad City Times:

Evidence of drugs found when police searched a Davenport parolee’s motel room in 2007 cannot be used against him after the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday to uphold a district court judgment.

James Maximiliano Ochoa, 40, was arrested Oct. 15, 2007, on suspicion of drug possession, unlawful possession of prescription drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia at the Traveler Motel, 433 14th St., Bettendorf.

According to the Supreme Court opinion:

Ochoa was on parole from his 2004 conviction for conspiracy to commit a forcible felony.

A Bettendorf officer, who did not have a warrant, searched his motel room and found a crack pipe, cocaine and prescription drugs not prescribed for Ochoa.

The officer searched the room with the understanding that parolees in Iowa are required to agree to be subject to searches “at any time, for any reason.”

Ochoa did not consent to the search.

At a hearing on the motion to suppress the evidence, the officer testified that he had no particular reason or cause for suspicion that illegal activity was occurring at the motel or with regard to Ochoa.

Scott County District Associate Judge Christine Dalton granted Ochoa’s motion to suppress the evidence. Dalton ruled that the search was based on an “inaccurate understanding of the parole agreement and its relationship to constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.”

Dalton stated that the parole agreement did not amount to a “broad blanket waiver of constitutional rights.”

She relied on an Iowa Supreme Court decision that a parolee “did not surrender his Fourth Amendment rights by virtue of his status as a parolee.”

On appeal, the state “shifted positions and asserted that Ochoa consented in advance to the search by executing the parole agreement.”

The Iowa Court of Appeals reversed the district court, noting that by signing his parole agreement, Ochoa “was aware of his diminished Fourth Amendment protections.”

The Supreme Court tossed out the decision of the Court of Appeals and reinstated the judgment of the district court.

“Prior to this decision, it was widely believed that parolees consented to warrantless searches as a condition of parole,” Scott County Attorney Mike Walton said in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling. “In this decision, the Iowa Supreme Court has made it clear they will strictly construe constitutional issues, even more strictly than the U.S. Supreme Court.”

As one commenter points out, Iowa parolees have greater Fourth Amendment rights than do Iowans getting on a commercial airline flight.

The pro-criminal Iowa Supreme Court, stacked with liberals and suggested by a commission containing 86% Democrats continues on like nothing has happened.

You parolees, your life just got a little easier in Iowa.  So go get that crack pipe and some prescription medication that isn't yours, and sit back and enjoy watching The Man have to run downtown to get a search warrant.  That will give you time to hide any guns, ditch any stolen items, and flush half of Columbia down the toilet.  You can thank Brent Appel when he's up for retention, or donate some of your ill-gotten money to the Democratic Party.  They're going to need it.