Review of a published court of appeals decision; case activity (including briefs)
Issue (composed by On Point):
Does the Confrontation Clause or Due Process Clause prohibit a circuit court from relying on hearsay evidence in deciding a suppression motion?
It hardly needs saying that this is a significant case with potentially far-reaching impact—indeed, the dissenting court of appeals judge warned about a future where evidentiary hearings have disappeared and decisions on suppression motions are “reduced to a paper review in which trial courts read police reports and review evidence such as dash cam videos….” (¶22). Unfortunately for the confrontation argument, most courts around the country have rejected the notion that the Confrontation Clause applies at suppression hearing. The due process argument, however, is more novel, and so might be more compelling—at least in the abstract, if not perhaps on the facts of this case. To learn more about the facts of the case and the legal arguments, take a look at our lengthy post on the court of appeals’ decision.
