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What Is a Motion to Suppress?

In many criminal cases, a Motion to Suppress is often the best defense and argument that a criminal defendant has in fighting his or her charges. A Motion to Suppress is what a criminal defense attorney files with the court demanding that certain evidence be barred, or “suppressed,” from the jury or fact-finder, regardless of how relevant the evidence is. In fact, most often, a motion to suppress seeks to suppress evidence that will unquestionably demonstrate the defendant’s guilt. So, the natural question is: when and under what circumstances can evidence be suppressed and not shown to the fact-finder?

The most common situation when a Motion to Suppress evidence is granted is when the evidence was obtained directly because of a constitutional violation. For example, in the United States, and consequently the state of Virginia, all citizens have a right under the Fourth Amendment to be free from “unreasonable searches and seizures,” and the Supreme Court has held that it is “unreasonable” for an officer to stop and question you without “reasonable suspicion” that a crime has occurred. But, what if a police officer notices that you live in a dangerous area, and therefore suspects you of being a criminal? Is that “reasonable suspicion” that a crime has occurred? No. But what if the police officer stops you anyways, notices illegal drugs in your vehicle, and arrests you for possession of a controlled substance? This is where a Motion to Suppress comes into play.

In the scenario and case outlined above, a quality defense attorney with attention to detail would file a Motion to Suppress and argue that because the officer stopped you only because you lived in a dangerous neighborhood, the stop violated your Constitutional right under the Fourth Amendment to be free from “unreasonable” seizures. The defense attorney would further argue that, crucially, because the police officer only saw the illegal drugs because of this unconstitutional stop, the discovery of the drugs themselves must be suppressed and not be shown to the jury. In a situation like this, a Judge would most certainly grant the Motion to Suppress, and the Commonwealth’s Attorney would not be able to use any evidence that the police discovered drugs in your vehicle. As a result, often times when a Motion to Suppress is granted prosecutors will dismiss cases and charges in their entirety, as the necessary evidence can no longer be used.

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