United States v. Lamont White, No. 21-3076 (8th Cir. 2022)
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Defendant was arrested and charged with firearm and drug charges after an officer claimed to see a bag of drugs in Defendant's car that was in plain view. In a motion to suppress, the officer testified inconsistently with the radio call. However, the district court found the officer credible and denied Defendant's motion. On appeal, Defendant claimed that the district court should not have credited the officer's testimony.
The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's denial of Defendant's motion to suppress, finding that the district court was entitled to credit the police officer's testimony over Defendant's. In finding that the drugs were in plain view, the district court implicitly credited the officer's testimony over his radio call. While the two statements were at odds, the court’s credibility determination did not amount to clear error.
Court Description: [Kobes, Author, with Loken and Arnold, Circuit Judges] Criminal case - Criminal law. The district court did not err in crediting a police officer's testimony that drugs were in plain view in the defendant's car and the gun found during the search of the car was admissible.
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