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Do your suppression argument in full at the trial court, or you default

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

A lesson on getting your argument right: Inventory search issue was not fully explored at the suppression hearing, and the defendant made it clear to the trial court that the real issue was the length of detention after stop under a noise ordinance led to the officer finding the driver without a valid license. [This is an example of make the full argument to the trial court and don't change your argument on appeal. In some states, the quoted paragraph would not appear because the court would rest on default without elaboration.] State v. McComb, 2008 Ohio 425, 2008 Ohio App. LEXIS 382 (2d Dist. February 1, 2008): [*P60] Bell testified that the inventory search was performed because the car was going to be towed. Bell's testimony concerning the nature of the inventory search performed was brief, and it is not altogether clear whether he was describing the nature of an inventory search in general, as prescribed by the regulations and policies of the Dayton Police Department, or whether he was describing the particular nature of the inventory search he performed in this case...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 09, 2008 (boomark / email).