State v. Teeter

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Herd, J.:

In this criminal action, the district magistrate determined at preliminary hearing that the inventory search of an automobile owned by Fred D. Teeter was an illegal search and seizure and ordered suppression of all evidence seized as a result. Absent the suppressed evidence, the State failed to establish probable cause, and the case was dismissed. The State appealed the magistrate’s decision to the district court, where the magistrate was affirmed. This appeal by the State followed.

The facts are not in dispute. In the early morning hours of…