State v. Bartlett

MARTIN, Chief Justice.

When the superior court conducts a pretrial hearing on a motion to suppress pursuant to N.C.G.S. § 15A-977, only the judge who presides at the hearing may make findings of fact concerning the evidence presented. When findings of fact are necessary to resolve a material conflict in the evidence and the judge who presides at the hearing does not make them, a new suppression hearing is required. In this case, a material conflict in the evidence arose from a disagreement between two expert witnesses, and a judge who did not hear the testimony of either expert resolved that…