Attorneys representing people charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI) in New Jersey municipal courts can use pretrial motions to give their clients a better chance of achieving a positive outcome. A motion to suppress evidence is one of the most powerful pretrial motions a lawyer can use. It seeks to prevent the state from using evidence obtained in violation of a defendant’s constitutional rights. If successful, a motion to suppress limits the amount of evidence that prosecutors may introduce in court. It may even result in the dismissal of the DWI charge.
What Is a Motion to Suppress?
A motion to suppress is based on the “exclusionary rule.” The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires police to obtain a warrant before searching a person or their property, with some exceptions. If police conduct a search that violates a defendant’s Fourth Amendment rights, the exclusionary rule blocks prosecutors from using that evidence at trial.
The exclusionary rule applies to any evidence that police could only obtain through an unlawful search. This evidence is known as the “fruit of the poisonous tree.”
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