State of Iowa
v.
Terry Joseph Schmitz
Appellee
State of Iowa
Appellant
Terry Joseph Schmitz
Attorney for the Appellee
Genevieve Reinkoester, Assistant Attorney General
Attorney for the Appellant
Mary K. Conroy, Assistant Appellate Defender
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Cerro Gordo County, Karen Kaufman Salic, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered without oral argument by Tabor, C.J., Badding, J., and Doyle, S.J. Opinion by Doyle, S.J. (10 pages)
On appeal from his conviction for operating while intoxicated, Terry Schmitz challenges the district court’s denial of his motion to suppress evidence from the traffic stop. Schmitz contends the officer did not have probable cause to stop the vehicle because the officer made a mistake of law about the speed limit. OPINION HOLDS: We conclude that Schmitz’s driving fifty-two miles per hour violated the forty-five-miles-per-hour maximum mandated by Iowa Code section 321.285(2)(a)(3) (2023), the default speed limit for suburban districts within a city, giving the officer probable cause to initiate the stop. That the trooper may have been mistaken in his belief that the lawful speed limit was twenty-five miles per hour does not alter our conclusion.
