State v. Musselwhite

MORRIS, Judge.

We shall first discuss the issue common to both defendants. Both Musselwhite and Artis moved to suppress the evidence seized by the police during the search of a certain 1974 Dodge van. The search was ostensibly conducted pursuant to a search warrant. The trial court ruled the search warrant invalid. At trial, subsequent to a hearing on the pretrial motions, the court ruled that the evidence seized during the search of the van was admissible even though, after invalidating the warrant, the search was warrantless. Defendants contend that these searches were constitutionally…