People v. Contreras

Opinion

CROSBY, J.

A deputy district attorney declined to go forward at a suppression hearing after the superior court refused to require the defendant to prove standing before taking evidence on the reasonableness of a warrant-less search and seizure. The court then granted the motion to suppress and dismissed when the prosecution indicated it could not go forward at trial. Although we agree the order of proof is a judicial prerogative, the court should have done no more than determine that the district attorney had failed to justify the warrantless search. The defendant should then have been…