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Appeals panel weighs timeliness of Chestnut appeal and legality of car search
Summary
An appellate panel heard argument in the appeal of Joseph Chestnut, convicted of first-degree murder, where defense counsel asked the court to excuse a 942-day delay and suppress a firearm found after a warrantless car search. The state urged dismissal for untimeliness or, alternatively, affirmed that evidence and premeditation support the conviction.
An appellate panel heard arguments in the appeal of Joseph Chestnut on matters that could determine whether his first-degree murder conviction stands or a new trial is required. William Gill, counsel for Chestnut, told the court that Chestnut raised two issues on appeal: the trial court’s denial of a pretrial motion to suppress evidence and the sufficiency of proof of premeditation, and he asked the court to reject the State’s timeliness challenge to Chestnut’s notice of appeal.
Gill said the State was “foreclosed and stopped” from advancing a contrary position on appeal because it previously treated the post-trial filing as a motion for a new trial and waited 942 days to raise a timeliness argument. He urged the court to favor adjudication on the merits, citing the appellate rule preference for resolving issues on substance rather than procedural technicalities.
Turning to the suppression dispute, Gill said the…
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