State v. Cooper

Phipps, Judge.

The trial court granted Nelson Cooper’s motion to suppress marijuana that was found in a car in which he was a passenger after the car had been stopped for traffic violations. The State appeals, claiming that, as a mere passenger, Cooper lacked standing to challenge the search of the car. We find that Cooper had standing to challenge his own detention resulting from the illegally prolonged stop, but that the marijuana was not “poisonous fruit” of that detention. Accordingly, we reverse.

In reviewing the trial court’s order on a motion to suppress, we construe the evidence most…