{"id":63853,"date":"2026-04-16T09:51:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T14:51:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=63853"},"modified":"2026-04-16T10:27:48","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T15:27:48","slug":"ia-bodycam-and-dashcam-videos-undermined-claim-of-plain-view","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=63853","title":{"rendered":"IA: Bodycam and dashcam videos undermined claim of plain view"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The bodycam and dashcam videos show that the officer could not have made the plain view he claims he did of a portion of a gallon-sized Ziplock bag in defendant\u2019s waistband. A clear video can even undermine trial court credibility determinations that are otherwise unassailable. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.iowacourts.gov\/courtcases\/25666\/embed\/CourtAppealsOpinion\">State v. Hoskins<\/a>, 2026 Iowa App. LEXIS 369 (Apr. 15, 2026) (2-1):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>Seeing is believing. In State v. Harbach, our supreme court cautioned that while body camera footage can be useful, courts should exercise care when relying on video to resolve factual questions not easily observable. 3 N.W.3d 209, 222 (Iowa 2024). That caution, however, does not permit courts to discount video evidence when it directly captures the conduct at issue. Although video is often just &#8220;one factor to consider&#8221; in suppression rulings, State v. Mohr, No. 19 0070, 2020 WL 564907, at *2 (Iowa Ct. App. Feb. 5, 2020), recordings that depict with clarity the precise moments under review are particularly probative especially when they directly contradict officer testimony. See State v. Ripperger, No. 14-2108, 2016 WL 146525, at *2 (Iowa Ct. App. Jan. 13, 2016).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The bodycam and dashcam videos show that the officer could not have made the plain view he claims he did of a portion of a gallon-sized Ziplock bag in defendant\u2019s waistband. A clear video can even undermine trial court credibility &hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/?p=63853\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[89,51],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-body-cameras","category-plain-view"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=63853"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63855,"href":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63853\/revisions\/63855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=63853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourthamendment.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}