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Appellate panel hears challenge to suppression in DUI case over affidavit hearsay
Summary
An appellate panel heard arguments over whether a trial court erred in suppressing evidence after a DUI arrest, focusing on whether a line in the arresting officer's affidavit quoting the suspect was inadmissible hearsay under Smotherman and whether the affidavit nonetheless established probable cause.
An appellate panel heard oral argument about whether a trial court erred when it granted a defendant's motion to suppress evidence in a DUI-related matter. State counsel Lacey Wilber urged the court to reverse, saying the affidavit supplied probable cause even without a contested line that the suspect "stated he had consumed alcohol prior in the night." Defense counsel Drew Justice defended the trial court's suppression order and argued the affidavit was unreliable and layered with hearsay.
Why it matters: the case tests the boundary between an affidavit's face language and the Smotherman line of authority that requires an affidavit to identify when information is supplied by other officers. The outcome will affect how magistrates evaluate warrant affidavits that include reported admissions and whether a reviewing court may infer the source from surrounding affidavit language.
The facts…
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