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CA8: District court's finding of fact was clearly erroneous because it contradicted the videotape, the only real evidence

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The Eighth Circuit finds the District Court's finding of reasonable suspicion for a traffic violation to be clearly erroneous and contradicted by the videotape of the stop. The defendants' car exited a Nebraska freeway to avoid a ruse checkpoint. United States v. Prokupek, 10-1406 & 10-1512 (8th Cir. January 24, 2011): The district court’s factual finding that “Prokupek failed to signal his turn before turning from the exit ramp on to the county road” is supported only by the court’s determination that Trooper Estwick’s testimony at the suppression hearing to that effect was credible. Because Trooper Estwick’s testimony at the hearing is so clearly and affirmatively contradicted by his own statement at the time of the events, in the absence of any explanation for this contradiction that is supported by the record, we conclude that Trooper Estwick’s after-the-fact testimony at the suppression hearing is “implausible on its face,” Anderson, 470 U...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on January 25, 2011 (boomark / email).