Wrongly Convicted Database Record

 

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Danielle Brown

 

Charge:

Drug Related (Possession or sale)

Sentence:

90 days & 6 months drivers license suspension

Years Imprisoned:

0.17

Year Crime:

2015

Year Convicted:

2016

Year Cleared:

2018

U.S. State or Country of Crime:

Iowa

County or Region of Crime:

Polk

City of Crime:

Des Moines

Result:

Judicially Exonerated

Summary of Case:

"Danielle Brown was wrongly convicted in March 2016 of marijuana possession in Des Moines, Iowa. Brown's prosecution was based on the discovery of some marijuana in her purse during the search of a house at which she was visiting. The trial judge denied her pretrial motion to suppress the marijuana as the fruits of the posionous tree because she wasn't named in the search warrant and the police had no probable cause to search her purse. After her conviction Brown was sentenced to 90 days in jail and suspension of her driver's license for six months. Brown appealed. On January 5, 2018 a 4 to 3 majority of the Iowa Supreme Court ruled the trial judge erred in not supressing the search of Brown's purse in which she had some marijuana, because she had an expectation of privacy as a visitor in a house when it was searched and she was not named in the search warrant and their was no probable cause to search her purse. The Court's ruling stated: "that when an individual is not named in a search warrant as a party for whom there is probable cause to search, the search of that individual or his possessions is invalid." The court reversed her marijuana possession conviction based on the illegal search."

Conviction Caused By:

Innocence Proved By:

"On January 5, 2018 a 4 to 3 majority of the Iowa Supreme Court ruled the trial judge erred in not supressing the search of Brown's purse in which she had some marijuana, because she had an expectation of privacy as a visitor in a house when it was searched and she was not named in the search warrant and their was no probable cause to search her purse. The Court's ruling stated: "that when an individual is not named in a search warrant as a party for whom there is probable cause to search, the search of that individual or his possessions is invalid." The court reversed her marijuana possession conviction based on the illegal search."

Defendant Aided By:

Compensation Awarded:

Was Perpetrator Identified?

Age When Imprisoned:

30

Age When Released:

30

Sex:

Male

Skin/Ethnicity:

Information Source 1:

"State of Iowa v. Danielle Brown, No. 16-0563 (Iowa Supreme Ct., 1-5-2018) (Reversed Brown's conviction based on the trial judge's error of denying suppression of illegal search of her purse.)"

Information Location 1:

https://www.iowacourts.gov/courtcases/168/embed/SupremeCourtOpinion

Information Source 2:

"Court overturns pot conviction of Iowa woman smoking meth, By David Pitt (AP), Des Moines Register, January 5, 2018"

Information Location 2:

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2018/01/05/court-overturns-pot-conviction-iowa-woman-smoking-meth/1009725001/

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Innocents Database Created and Maintained by Hans Sherrer innocents@forejustice.org

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