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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndiana justices will review a case involving a search deemed illegal and a subsequent conviction for resisting law enforcement that was reversed by the Court of Appeals.
The Indiana Supreme Court granted transfer last week in Darrell Lawrence v. State of Indiana, 49S02-1211-CR-620. It was the lone case granted transfer during the week ending Nov. 2, according to the transfer disposition list posted Monday.
Darrell Lawrence was charged with possession of cocaine and two counts of resisting law enforcement after police responded to a complaint of a loud disturbance at a common area of an apartment complex known to be a high-crime area.
The trial court ruled that a search of Lawrence that found cocaine in his pocket was unwarranted, and it suppressed the seized drug evidence. The court involuntarily dismissed the cocaine charge but denied Lawrence’s motion to suppress the evidence related to the resisting law enforcement counts.
The appeals court affirmed the trial court ruling on the search but reversed the trial court on the resisting charges, holding they were fruit of the poisonous tree stemming from the illegal search.
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