Rowell v. State

May a court of appeals, without examining a reporter’s record of a guilty plea and sentencing, decide that a trial court erred in denying an appellant’s motion to suppress evidence? We hold that it may.

The appellant was charged with misdemeanor possession of marihuana that was found during a search of his estranged wife’s residence. The search was authorized by a search warrant issued by a United States magistrate judge. The appellant filed a motion to suppress the marihuana, arguing that the affiant’s information was stale on the date that the warrant issued and, thus, did not provide…