Home -> Law Blog Directory -> Criminal Law Blogs -> Fourth Amendment

Criminal Law

: Fourth Amendment

TX2: Defendant did not show warrantless arrest invalid; he has the burden

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The defendant has the burden of showing that police conduct in this warrantless arrest case was unreasonable. State v. Woodard, 2010 Tex. App. LEXIS 2419 (Tex. App. – Ft. Worth April 1, 2010) (2-1): Proper police conduct is presumed. See Amador, 221 S.W.3d at 672-73. To suppress evidence because of an alleged Fourth Amendment violation, the defendant bears the initial burden of producing evidence that rebuts the presumption of proper police conduct. Id. (citing Russell v. State, 717 S.W.2d 7, 9 (Tex. Crim. App. 1986); Derichsweiler v. State, 301 S.W.3d 803, 808 (Tex. App.--Fort Worth, pet. filed); Morris v. State, 50 S.W.3d 89, 94 (Tex. App.--Fort Worth 2001, no pet.). The dissent appears to overlook the first prong of this presumption: a defendant must establish that (1) a search or seizure occurred (2) without a warrant...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on April 07, 2010 (boomark / email).