State v. Butler

We have for review a trial court order suppressing, on Fourth Amendment grounds, certain evidence in the State’s prosecution of appellee Amanda Butler for second-degree murder and aggravated child abuse. We reverse, because we conclude the court erroneously determined the Fourth Amendment applied to the conduct that led to discovery of the incriminating information.

I. BACKGROUND

Appellee, the State has alleged, suffers from Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a psychiatric disorder whose sufferers — predominantly young mothers — factitiously induce illness in their young children, often to draw…