## Facts

- A Des Moines police officer stopped John Arthur Senn Jr.’s truck after observing it stopped improperly in an intersection.
- The officer observed signs of intoxication, administered field sobriety tests, and obtained a preliminary breath test result around 0.165.
- At the station, the officer read the implied-consent advisory and allowed Senn to telephone an attorney.
- Senn requested privacy for the attorney phone call; the officer refused and remained present, explaining that privacy was available only for an in-person attorney consultation at the place of detention.
- No attorney arrived at the station in time; Senn consented to a DataMaster breath test showing 0.140.
- The State charged Senn with operating while intoxicated (OWI) eleven days later.
- Senn moved to suppress the breath-test result, claiming a constitutional right to a private attorney consultation and arguing the governing statute was unconstitutional as applied; the district court denied the motion and convicted him.

## Issues

1. Whether the right to counsel under article I, section 10 of the Iowa Constitution (and the Sixth Amendment) attaches before formal charges, when an OWI arrestee decides whether to submit to chemical breath testing.
2. Whether Iowa Code § 804.20 is unconstitutional as applied by permitting an officer or jailer to be present during an arrestee’s attorney telephone call, while providing privacy only for in-person consultations at the place of detention.

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Iowa affirmed the denial of suppression and affirmed Senn’s OWI conviction.
- The court held the Iowa constitutional right to counsel, like the Sixth Amendment right, does not attach until formal criminal charges are filed; it had not attached when Senn decided whether to take the breath test.
- The court held Iowa Code § 804.20 was not unconstitutional as applied and that Senn’s limited statutory right to counsel was satisfied when he was allowed to contact an attorney by phone under the statute’s terms.

## Legal Principles

- The right to counsel under Iowa Const. art. I, § 10 attaches upon initiation of formal criminal charges and does not apply to pre-charge implied-consent decisions about chemical testing.
- Iowa Code § 804.20 provides a limited statutory right: an arrestee may place calls to counsel (or family) and may meet alone and in private with counsel at the place of detention, but an officer or jailer may be present for attorney telephone calls.
- Denial of a private attorney telephone consultation before chemical testing does not violate constitutional right-to-counsel protections when adversary judicial proceedings have not begun and statutory access is provided as prescribed.

## Conclusion

Because Senn had not been formally charged when he was asked to decide whether to submit to a breath test, no state or federal constitutional right to counsel had attached, and the statute governing attorney access permitted officer presence during phone calls while preserving privacy for in-person consultations; the breath-test result was admissible and the conviction was affirmed.


State v. Senn, 882 N.W.2d 1 (Iowa 2016)