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CA7: State trial court's denial of suppression motion in dismissed prosecution was not binding in later § 1983 case

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

Pretrial suppression denial was only a preliminary ruling, but the state dismissed the case. That holding was not binding in a subsequent § 1983 action. Best v. City of Portland, 2009 U.S. App. LEXIS 2289 (7th Cir. February 3, 2009): In this case the officers argue, and the district court held, that the legality of the searches was necessarily and finally adjudicated in Best's criminal prosecution and cannot be relitigated. But this argument ignores the preliminary nature of the ruling on Best's pretrial suppression motion. Under Indiana law, "rulings on pretrial motions are not necessarily final." Joyner v. State, 678 N.E.2d 386, 393 (Ind. 1997). "'[A] ruling on a pretrial motion to suppress is not intended to serve as the final expression concerning admissibility...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 11, 2009 (boomark / email).