State v. Rains
| Decision Date | 18 February 1998 |
| Docket Number | No. 97-638,97-638 |
| Citation | 574 N.W.2d 904 |
| Parties | STATE of Iowa, Appellee, v. Steven Wayne RAINS, Appellant. |
| Court | Iowa Supreme Court |
Gerald J. Kucera of Tom Riley Law Firm, P.C., Cedar Rapids, for appellant.
Thomas J. Miller, Attorney General, Robert P. Ewald, Assistant Attorney General, Thomas J. Ferguson, County Attorney, and Kasey Wadding, Assistant County Attorney, for appellee.
Considered by HARRIS, P.J., and LARSON, CARTER, NEUMAN, and SNELL, JJ.
Defendant appeals his convictions for various charges arising out of a traffic stop. Because we find no error in the district court's rulings, we affirm.
Based upon the evidence presented at trial, a jury could have found the following facts. At approximately 2:15 a.m. on July 14, 1996, Waterloo police officers Andrew Clark and Cory Allspach were on patrol when they noticed a car weaving in its own lane and on several occasions nearly striking the center median strip. The officers followed the car until it turned into a parking lot, where they observed the driver exit the vehicle. The officers entered the lot from another direction and parked the patrol car approximately ten feet away from the suspect vehicle. As the officers pulled to a stop, they noticed the driver had re-entered his vehicle and shut the car door.
Officer Clark suspected the driver had been drinking. He exited his patrol car to determine whether the driver was intoxicated and to investigate his reason for being in the deserted parking lot at that time of the morning. When Officer Clark approached the vehicle, he asked the driver, Steven Rains, whether he was experiencing any problems. Rains responded that he was having car problems, although Officer Clark observed that the vehicle's engine was running smoothly. Clark noticed Rains' speech was slurred and he could detect an odor of alcohol emanating from either Rains or the vehicle. Clark asked Rains how much he had to drink that evening to which he responded he'd had "a couple." Clark then asked Rains for his driver's license. Rains stated that he did not have a license and Clark requested some other form of identification. Rains initially questioned Clark's right to see the identification, but subsequently acquiesced and told Clark he would produce identification.
Rains turned his body toward the passenger seat in what Clark thought was an attempt to retrieve his identification. When Rains turned back to face Clark, Rains stated he was going to pull the car forward. Clark told Rains to leave the car where it was. Clark then noticed the vehicle starting to move slightly forward. Clark assumed that Rains was either intoxicated and unable to control the vehicle or that he did not understand his command to leave the vehicle in the same position. At that point, Clark reached in through the driver's open window and placed his right hand on Rains' left shoulder and his left hand on Rains' right forearm. He also reiterated his command to stop the vehicle.
The car then began to move more quickly and Clark felt himself being carried along with the car. Clark tried to run alongside the car, but it was accelerating too quickly and he was being dragged. During this time, Clark continued to command Rains to stop the vehicle. Officer Allspach yelled at Clark to let go, but the vehicle was going too quickly at that point and Clark feared being run over by the rear wheels of the car if he dropped to the ground. Clark then pulled his upper body through the driver's window to avoid being dragged. Rains directed the car toward an alley leading to an adjoining street. As the car moved down the alley, Clark could feel it jerking back and forth as if Rains was attempting to dislodge him from the car. As the vehicle turned onto the street, Clark feared that Rains would attempt to strike a building or other object in an attempt to "scrape" him off the vehicle. Clark then grabbed Rains by the throat with his left hand in an attempt to force him to stop. This tactic was ineffective and Clark believed the only way he could stop the vehicle was to utilize his firearm. Clark tightened his grip with his left hand, grabbed his gun with his right hand, placed it against Rains' left side and fired. The gun subsequently jammed and Clark realized he would be unable to fire a second shot. Hoping that Rains would not realize the gun was jammed, Clark held the gun to Rains' head and again commanded him to stop. Rains then stopped the vehicle. Officer Allspach arrived on the scene and an ambulance was called for Rains. Rains was transported by ambulance to a local hospital for treatment of the gunshot wound.
While at the hospital, medical personnel (at the request of the attending physician) drew samples of Rains' blood for diagnostic and treatment purposes. There was no written request for blood samples by either the police or county sheriff's department under the Iowa Code's implied consent provisions. See Iowa Code § 321J.6 (1995). Approximately one month after the incident, pursuant to a search warrant, the Black Hawk County sheriff's office obtained two tubes of blood drawn by the hospital. Tests were run on those samples by the Department of Criminal Investigation in Des Moines. The results showed a blood alcohol concentration of .168 mg/dl, which is above the statutory limit for legal intoxication of .10 mg/dl established by Iowa Code section 321J.2(1)(b). Rains remained hospitalized for twenty-eight days. During the first three days of that time period, an armed police officer was posted in the hallway outside Rains' hospital room. The guard was removed after complaints by Rains' family.
On October 7, 1996, Rains was arrested and a trial information was filed charging Rains with five counts: (1) assault on a peace officer with intent to inflict a serious injury, in violation of Iowa Code section 708.3A(1) (Supp.1995); (2) interference with official acts with intent to inflict serious injury, in violation of Iowa Code section 719.1(1); (3) operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated, second offense, in violation of Iowa Code section 321J.2(2)(b); (4) operating a motor vehicle while license revoked in violation of Iowa Code section 321J.21; and (5) operating a motor vehicle while license suspended in violation of section 321A.32(1). Rains pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Rains filed a motion to suppress the results of the blood tests on December 20, 1996. He filed a motion to dismiss for violation of the speedy indictment rule on January 9, 1997. The district court denied both motions and the case proceeded to trial. The jury found Rains guilty on all counts. The district court sentenced Rains to serve concurrent terms of imprisonment not to exceed five years on his convictions for assault on a peace officer and interference with official acts. The court also sentenced Rains to two years on the OWI conviction and concurrent one-year terms for operating while license suspended and revoked. The two-year sentence was ordered to run consecutively to the five-year sentence for a total of seven years. Rains appealed.
On appeal, Rains argues the district court committed four errors. First, he maintains the district court erred in overruling his motion to dismiss based on an alleged violation of the speedy indictment rule. He argues that he was effectively arrested on July 14 when Officer Clark attempted to restrain him by shooting him. He maintains the restraint continued by the posting of an armed officer outside his hospital room. Therefore, Rains contends, because the State did not file charges until October 7, it violated the forty-five day time limit for indicting arrestees established by Iowa Rule of Criminal Procedure 27(2)(a). Second, Rains argues the district court erred in failing to sustain his motion to suppress the results of the blood tests. He argues that Iowa's implied consent law was not followed and therefore the results should be suppressed. Third, Rains contends the district court erred in refusing to submit his requested jury instructions regarding the defense of justification. Fourth, Rains alleges the district court erred in declining to admit the testimony of Frank Saunders, an expert in police procedure who would have testified that Officer Clark did not act properly in investigating Rains' actions on the night of July 14 and that Clark used excessive force in his attempt to restrain Rains.
The State contends that Rains failed to preserve error on this issue because he did not file a motion to dismiss within forty days of his arraignment. Rains was arraigned on October 29, 1996. The motion to dismiss on speedy indictment grounds was not filed until January 9, 1997, past the forty day time limit. Iowa Rules of Criminal Procedure 10(2)(b) and 10(4) require that motions to dismiss based on defects in the indictment must be filed within forty days of arraignment. Rule 10(3) provides that failure by the defendant to timely raise such a motion shall constitute waiver of the issue. However, the court can grant relief from such a waiver for good cause shown.
Rains argues that he obtained an extension of time to file pretrial motions which constitutes good cause under rule 10(3). He also contends that the State failed to object to his motion to dismiss on timeliness grounds and that it has therefore waived this issue.
Rains' counsel filed a motion for an extension of time to file pretrial motions on November 20, 1996, citing the large number of persons the State listed as possible witnesses and arguing that the bases for possible pretrial motions could not be known until discovery was completed. The court granted Rains' motion on November 22, 1996, ordering a deadline of January 24, 1997, for the filing of all pretrial motions.
Our scope of review of the district court's decision on this issue is for an abuse of...
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State v. Williams
...person is taken into custody, interrogated, and released from custody without the filing of a criminal complaint. See State v. Rains , 574 N.W.2d 904, 910–11 (Iowa 1998) (holding arrest does not occur under the speedy indictment rule when the suspect is shot by a police officer, detained at......
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...Review. A district court's refusal to submit a requested jury instruction is reviewed for correction of errors at law. State v. Rains, 574 N.W.2d 904, 915 (Iowa 1998). We review the district court's evidentiary rulings for abuse of discretion. State v. Huston, 825 N.W.2d 531, 536 (Iowa 2013......
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