Burks v. State

The majority holds that the only prejudice arising from the circuit court’s denial of appellant Hutson Burks’s motion to suppress was that Emma Mickles’s testimony was “tainted by her personal motivation to take the stand,” and that any prejudice was cured by the fact that Burks was given the opportunity to cross-examine her. 114Because I conclude that the underlying procedure by which Mickles’s testimony was obtained was fundamentally and fatally flawed, I must respectfully dissent.

The majority notes that Burks’s argument was that Mickles’s testimony was illegally obtained through an…