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TX6: Confrontation clause does not apply to suppression hearings; here, dead officer's reports came in

By John Wesley Hall, Jr.

The officer who stopped defendant’s car was killed on the job shortly thereafter, and another officer continued the investigation. At defendant’s suppression hearing, the dead officer’s reports were admissible, and Crawford and the confrontation clause did not apply. On the merits, during a traffic stop, a plastic cup was thrown from the car. The defendant was arrested for giving alcohol to a minor and felon in possession, and the officer found from a passenger that the defendant had videotaped her underage having sex years a ago and was going to again, but now she was of age. There was evidence of pornography in the car. The search of defendant’s car was valid as an inventory search, and there was probable cause shown for the search of defendant’s house...continue to full post

Full post as published by Fourth Amendment on February 28, 2010 (boomark / email).