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State of Iowa
v.
Dawn Loryne Chambers
Appellee
State of Iowa
Appellant
Dawn Loryne Chambers
Attorney for the Appellee
Louis S. Sloven, Assistant Attorney General
Attorney for the Appellant
S. P. DeVolder
Court of Appeals
Court of Appeals Opinion
Opinion Number:
Date Published:
Summary
Appeal from the Iowa District Court for Mahaska County, Rose Anne Mefford, District Associate Judge, Judge. AFFIRMED. Considered by Vaitheswaran, P.J., and Greer and Schumacher, JJ. Opinion by Greer, J. (19 pages)
Dawn Chambers, convicted of operating while intoxicated (OWI), third offense, appeals the denial of her motions to suppress evidence, specifically: incriminating statements she made to law enforcement and DataMaster breath test results obtained via search warrant. She posits (1) her statements at the scene should have been excluded because they stemmed from custodial interrogation without the benefit of Miranda warnings; (2) her statements post-arrest and the breath-test result should have been excluded because she was not informed of her right to make a phone call under Iowa Code section 804.20 (2019); and (3) the breath test results should have been excluded because she was not told she could obtain an independent chemical test under Iowa Code section 321J.11. Lastly, in response to her supplemented motion to suppress, Chambers challenges the search warrant, alleging it was void because of a mistake in the return warrant. OPINION HOLDS: We reverse the denial of Chambers’s motions to suppress the breath test result but affirm the denial of the motion to suppress the incriminating statements before the testing. Finding harmless error for the failure to provide an independent test, we affirm the conviction for OWI.
