State of Iowa
v.
Troy J. Ford
Appellee
State of Iowa
Appellant
Troy J. Ford
Attorney for the Appellee
Tyler J. Buller, Assistant Attorney General
Attorney for the Appellant
Shellie L. Knipfer, Assistant Appellate Defender
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Scott County, Cheryl E. Traum, District Associate Judge. REVERSED AND REMANDED. Considered by Doyle, P.J., Tabor, J., and Vogel, S.J. Opinion by Tabor, J. Dissent by Vogel, S.J. (14 pages)
Troy Ford appeals his conviction for third-offense possession of marijuana asserting the district court erred in denying his motion to suppress. A police officer mistakenly arrested Ford based on an outstanding warrant for a different individual with the same name. Ford contends the arrest was invalid so the search incident to arrest revealing the marijuana was unconstitutional and the district court should have suppressed it. OPINION HOLDS: Because the officer did not act reasonably in searching Ford before verifying his identity as the person with the warrant, we reverse the suppression ruling and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion. DISSENT ASSERTS: Because I believe the district court properly denied Ford’s motion to suppress based on the arresting officer reasonably matching Ford with the outstanding warrants, I would affirm his conviction and sentence.
