State v. Williams
Annotate this CaseThe State charged Defendant with one count of cocaine possession after law enforcement officers arrested him on an outstanding warrant and discovered cocaine in his shoe. The district court granted Defendant's motion to suppress the cocaine, determining that the officers unlawfully detained Defendant before discovering the arrest warrant when they took his identification to run a warrants check, and that unlawful detention tainted the evidence found in the search. The court of appeals reversed. The Supreme Court reversed the court of appeals' decision and affirmed the district court's suppression ruling, holding (1) the officers unlawfully detained Defendant when they parked their patrol vehicle next to Defendant as he walked along a sidewalk, stood on either side of Defendant, and began asking Defendant questions, all without any reasonable suspicion of his involvement in any criminal activity; and (2) the officers' discovery of an outstanding arrest warrant during the unlawful detention did not purge the taint of Defendant's unlawful detention.
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