State v. Waddoups

DURHAM, Justice:

This is an appeal from an order of dismissal of a criminal case. The State claims error in a pretrial ruling declaring a witness incompetent to testify and suppressing the witness’s out-of-court statements. No error in the dismissal itself is claimed, since it was granted at the State’s request after the entry of the pretrial order. The threshold question for our determination is whether the State may pursue an appeal of right under these circumstances.

The circumstances under which the State may appeal adverse rulings in the trial court in criminal cases have traditionally…