Steve Palmer [00:00:00]:

Steve Palmer here with another episode of Lawyer Talk podcast DUI 360 where we cover all sorts of DUI, Ohio, we call it OVI, related topics. We also have a couple other series out there. They don't teach you that in law school as well as our q and a. If you wanna submit a question, you want us to cover a topic, you want, to get to be part of the show, just go to lawyertalkpodcast.com, or you can check us out on the socials, leave a comment. We try to either respond or sometimes we cover the topics right here. Anyway, jump to it. DUI 360. I had a question recently from a client, and it's a great topic to cover here.

Steve Palmer [00:00:36]:

I have a suppression hearing scheduled, for court, in fact, next week. And my client says, well, what in the heck is a suppression hearing? Good question because most people don't know what a suppression hearing is. What I've done is we filed motions, and a motion in my world is basically we're asking the court to throw out the evidence. So whenever you hear on TV while they they threw the evidence out, it's because the lawyer on the defense side has filed a motion challenging the admissibility of the evidence based upon, in this case, fourth amendment. If if there's a unlawful arrest, if there's an unlawful search, and maybe the fifth amendment too, if your client makes statements while he's in custody and there is no Miranda, then the lawyer files a motion to suppress and then throw out of court the the meaning the prosecutor can't use this evidence against the defense. And, prosecutor can't use this evidence against the defense. And that is typically decided at something called a suppression hearing. What happens at a suppression hearing? Well, first and foremost, if we allege a fourth amendment violation, and in my case, the violation is the police did not have enough arrest gets thrown out.

Steve Palmer [00:01:45]:

And there's another component to it that the another component to it that the police questioned our client, while he was in custody and didn't first read him his Miranda rights. So once we file a motion to suppress alleging those constitutional violations, we have this sort of burden shifting event that happens. We've made the allegation. Now the prosecutor has to come in and prove to the judge that it was not a fourth or fifth amendment violation. In other words, they have the burden of proof. We don't. We raise the issue. They have to prove it.

Steve Palmer [00:02:17]:

And, you know, I I remember a situation with my mentor long ago where I sat I was able to sit. I think I might even still been in law school, and the judge let me sit at council table, and I was all excited with that. And the judge says, alright, sir, it's your motion, and looked at my mentor. My mentor said looked at the prosecutor and said, it's your burden. And, you know, sort of made a quippy remark like, I don't have to do anything. I've raised it. Now you, mister prosecutor, have to bring in evidence. And that's what's gonna happen next week at my suppression hearing.

Steve Palmer [00:02:44]:

The prosecutor is gonna call witnesses, and the prime witness is going to be the state trooper here in Ohio who conducted the investigation and the arrest of my client. And we're challenging among other things, how that trooper administered field sobriety tests were challenging, as I said, his q and a or his interrogation of my client, in his decision to arrest. The prosecutor has to call that trooper, ask that trooper questions, and get enough information on the record to argue to the judge that, no, there actually was probable cause, or in the context of the statements, the our client either wasn't in custody or wasn't interrogation or there's no Miranda problem, and that'll happen at a hearing. There's no jury there. It's only the judge, and the judge has to make a decision. Now the good news is no matter how this goes down, I get to cross examine the trooper. So I get to present evidence. I get to, ask questions.

Steve Palmer [00:03:37]:

And if I want, I can actually bring in my own evidence. And, a lot of times the sole or maybe the prime evidence at these hearings is the, officer's body cam footage and dash cam footage. In this day and age, if your lawyer is charging any more to go through discovery, it's because now we get hours of body camera footage. And it used to be maybe we got a videotape, an old VHS tape, from the the cruiser dash that would show what happened at the windshield in front or out front of the cruise of the police cruiser, meaning field sobriety test, etcetera. Now we have angles all over the place. Multiple troopers are there. We get all their body cam footage. We get the dash cam footage.

Steve Palmer [00:04:15]:

And a lot of times, that provides the best basis, for the evidence. And even if I don't win. Now some cases, it that you live or die on the suppression hearing. The evidence is solid, and unless there's a fourth amendment problem, you lose. This isn't one of those cases fortunately for my client. So the worst case scenario is I will get discovery. I will get to hear this trooper testify. I will get to see and feel and experience what what it will likely be like when I go and have a jury trial on the case.

Steve Palmer [00:04:42]:

So that's a suppression hearing, folks. The defense and by the way, the defendant has to be there normally. Every now and then, we can waive our client's appearance, but the defendant has to be there. But all he's gonna do is sit there, and we're gonna whisper and we're gonna talk because my client lived this scenario, and he may give me some insight that I don't otherwise know. But for the most part, that's all he has to do. Sometimes I call my client to testify every now and then. Most of the time, it's just the prosecutor show. I get questions, and the judge makes a decision.

Steve Palmer [00:05:10]:

So that is our DUI three sixty this week. And and look, we the idea here is we cover various topics as many as I can think of, when I'm driving into the studio, to talk about DUIs and OVIs because I think it's helpful for folks. If you've got, again, a topic you want me to cover, check us out, lawyertalkpodcast.com. Until then, this is Lawyer Talk Off the Record on the air until next week.